6 Facts of National Importance

1. The District of Columbia isn't part of any state, though it was created on land donated by Virginia and Maryland. (Virginia's land was returned to it by Congress in 1846, largely with regard to slavery in the District). Almost 700,000 people live in D.C., not counting the over 300,000 additional people who commute there to work.

2. A locally-elected mayor and thirteen member council govern Washington D.C., but Congress has supreme authority and may overturn local laws. Residents elect a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, but have no representative in the Senate. The 23rd Amendment to the Constitution gave the District three electoral votes.

3. After the assasination of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., rioting on the U Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors ended after three days through the intervention of federal troops.

4. By law, the skyline is low and sprawling--no building may be taller than the width of the adjacent street (plus 20 feet). The Ronald Reagam building is the largest Washington, with an area of approximately 3.1 million square feet. 19% of the District's total area is parkland.

5. By 1870, though nearly 132,000 people lived in Washington D.C., dirt roads were common and basic sanitation was lacking. On the other hand, Washington was the first city in the nation to pursue urban renewal in the early 1900's.

6. Columbia, used as the name for the federal district established in the Constitution, was a poetic name for America in common use in the late 1700's.

6 things you really ought to know about Alabama

1. The flag is white with a red St Andrew's cross, and the motto is "We dare to defend our rights."

2. There are two state birds (yellowhammer and wild turkey), two state fish (largemouth bass and fighting tarpon), two state flowers (camellia and oakleaf hydrangea), and three foods (pecan, blackberry and peach). I saw some camellia blossoms and possibly a largemouth bass, but I still can't quite picture a yellowhammer.

3. In the 1830s, the economy of central Alabama was built around large cotton plantations, mostly using slave labor. By 1860, the population of the state was more than 950,000, of whom more than half were enslaved African Americans.

4. The 1901 Alabama constitution effectively disenfranchised almost all African Americans and Native Americans, as well as many poor whites. By requiring a literacy test and imposing a poll tax, the number of African Americans registered to vote fell from more than 181,000 in 1900 to fewer than 3,000 in 1903. The situation worsened throughout the first half of the 20th century. This constitution also required schools to be segregated by race. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, more and more public spaces were segregated. Legal segregation ended in 1964, but longstanding customs often continued until challenged in court.

5. The first state capital, Cahaba, is now a ghost town.

6. Alabama averages more tornado fatalities per year than any other state.