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Legally the name of the city is "District of Columbia".<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=016/llsl016.db&recNum=0454 District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871.] [[Library of Congress]]</ref><ref>[http://countystation.com/washingtondc.html District of Columbia Information.]</ref>
Legally the name of the city is "District of Columbia".<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=016/llsl016.db&recNum=0454 District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871.] [[Library of Congress]]</ref><ref>[http://countystation.com/washingtondc.html District of Columbia Information.]</ref>
[[File:DC2.jpg|thumb|400px]]
[[File:DC2.jpg|thumb|400px]]
==Design==
==Design and History==
[[Pierre L'Enfant]], appointed in 1791 by George Washington, designed much of the city, including the city's interesting quadrant formation. The city is divided into four quadrants, which meet at a central point at the [[United States Capitol]]. The Northwest quadrant is by far the largest, and locations in this quadrant include the [[White House]], Ford's Theater (where [[Abraham Lincoln]] was assassinated in 1865), the National Zoo, and a number of the Smithsonian Museums. L'Enfant was fired over a dispute involving [[Thomas Jefferson]] before the city's design was completed.<ref>http://www.exploredc.org/index.php?id=3</ref>
[[Pierre L'Enfant]], appointed in 1791 by George Washington, designed much of the city, including the city's interesting quadrant formation. The city is divided into four quadrants, which meet at a central point at the [[United States Capitol]]. The Northwest quadrant is by far the largest, and locations in this quadrant include the [[White House]], Ford's Theater (where [[Abraham Lincoln]] was assassinated in 1865), the National Zoo, and a number of the Smithsonian Museums. L'Enfant was fired over a dispute involving [[Thomas Jefferson]] before the city's design was completed.<ref>http://www.exploredc.org/index.php?id=3</ref>
In 1814, the British army attacked the city as a part of the [[War of 1812]] and burned a number of public buildings in the city, including the [[White House]]. First Lady [[Dolly Madison]] famously saved a portrait of [[George Washington]] from the White House before the building was burned.<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/washingtonsack.htm</ref>
In 1814, the British army attacked the city as a part of the [[War of 1812]] and burned a number of public buildings in the city, including the [[White House]]. First Lady [[Dolly Madison]] famously saved a portrait of [[George Washington]] from the White House before the building was burned.<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/washingtonsack.htm</ref>
The city is located along the [[Potomac River]]. The Anacostia River branches off this, and runs through parts of the Southeast and Northeast Quadrants. This river has had problems with pollution.
The city is located along the [[Potomac River]]. The Anacostia River branches off this, and runs through parts of the Southeast and Northeast Quadrants. This river has had problems with pollution.
The completely appropriate public outcry during the 2016 presidential election campaign to “drain the swamp” has its roots in Washington DC’s early history. For several years after its founding, the city on the Potomac River was known for its terribly swampy conditions, with unpaved roads simply impassible by wagon or carriage for months out of the year thanks to the pervasive muck and mire.<ref>Joanne B. Freeman, Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2001).</ref> Many politicians during the early republic refused to travel to the capital city, preferring instead to conduct government business via courier or carrier pigeons, which became known informally as “muddy budgies.” President Thomas Jefferson was a great fan of the “avian art,” and his several failed attempts to train muddy budgies himself are a great source of levity in the Jefferson Papers.<ref>Thomas Jefferson,.Catalogue, [1823]. Manuscript. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress. http://lccn.loc.gov/87204942</ref> Over time, residents of the city applied the term “muddy buddies” to the (largely Democratic) politicians who continued to send messages in this secretive and unofficial manner long after improvements had been made to the urban infrastructure, and they used the expression to speak derisively of the corruption that inevitably results from the expansion of the federal government. Though the contemporary use of the term “muddy buddies” refers mainly to a popular snack food, the unhealthy amounts of starch and polysaccharides the product contains are emblematic of the poisoning of the body politic inherent in the original definition of the term.<ref>http://www.chexmixsnackon.com/products/muddy-buddies-peanut-butter-chocolate</ref>
Washington, D.C. is served by the [[Metrorail]] subway system.
Washington, D.C. is served by the [[Metrorail]] subway system.