A gorgeous mural outside a beloved D.C. restaurant pays homage to famous Black Americans.

Part of a WWII submarine is lurking outside the Washington Navy Yard parking lot.

A 1,100-ton train fell through the floor in 1953. Workers got it patched up in just 72 hours.

This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.

Those with a sharp eye can find the hidden image of a German Shepherd on the memorial's Mural Wall.

A little marble compass above George Washington's (empty) tomb in the Capitol marks where D.C.'s four quadrants intersect.

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.

The actual model from the original "Star Trek" series is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

A monument in Washington D.C. marks the spot from which all other roads were supposed to stem.

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.

This grand gothic brewery has been pumping out suds for over a hundred years.

This spectacular public market has got meat, fish, vegetables, baked goods, and enough kielbasa for a lifetime.

The oldest still-operating tavern in the United States was once owned by a pirate.

The bank that helped fund the Mexican-American War and the purchase of Alaska met its downfall after helping Augusto Pinochet launder money.

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.

The U.S. Navy’s preposterously detailed mini battleship took 77,000 hours to complete.

Look closely and you’ll notice that the color changes a third of the way up the tower.

A derelict bit of infrastructure from the canal that once ran through D.C. is landlocked in the heart of the city.

A muscular Art Deco monument represents the struggle between regulators and unbridled markets.

An overlooked memorial honoring the local Washington residents who died in World War I.

While most wind tunnels test scale models, the "Cave of Winds" was large enough for actual airplanes.