The Metropolitan Police Department has recovered a historic booking log that is one of the first written records of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Call Nicholas Cage, and alert the Masons! Could this be a real live Book of Secrets? From the Examiner:

Local lore has it that in the 1960s or ’70s, someone found the book in a police trash bin with other discarded files. The book circulated among retired police officers for years, until a former police chief recently convinced the previous owner to donate it to the Police Department. more ›

We first heard about the creepiest media stunt we could possibly imagine yesterday: The soon to open Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in D.C. planned to purchase a ticket on a Delta Shuttle flight from New York to DCA for their wax statue of President Abraham Lincoln. This morning, after tossing and turning all night with nightmares about being seated next to the slain leader, we have press photos waiting for us in our inbox. We hope you already ate breakfast. more ›

Yesterday the National Park Service quietly announced that Ford's Theatre, the site of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and one of D.C.'s most popular tourist destinations, will close today for 18 months as it undergoes a massive renovation. The planned $8.5 million upgrade will include improvements to the heating, air conditioning, lighting and sound systems, the addition of an elevator and new restrooms, the Park Service said. As the WaPo points out, in addition to being... more ›

By DCist Contributor Matt Pelkey On the Fourth of July you light fireworks, on Memorial Day you grill hunks of meat, and on Labor Day you grill more hunks of meat. But how should you celebrate Emancipation Day this Monday? The voting rights march leaves little excuse for perverting another holiday into reason for a meaningless leisure activity. But if for some reason you can't be at the march, make up for it by heading... more ›

It was almost three weeks ago that Republicans helped derail legislation that would finally grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. The Democratic leadership has promised to bring the legislation back to the floor next week, but even if it passes, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate and an almost assured veto from President Bush. Short of giving up and moving en masse to Virginia and Maryland, what can... more ›

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons held to service or labor within the District of Columbia by reason of African descent are hereby discharged and freed of and from all claim to such service or labor; and from and after the passage of this act neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for crime, whereof the party shall be duly convicted, shall hereafter exist in said District.

It was on April 16, 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, effectively freeing 3,100 slaves in the District some nine months before a similar step was taken nationwide. While the District officially recognized the day from 1866 to 1901, it wasn't until 2002 that it was once again elevated to a historic celebration and until last year that it became a citywide holiday. more ›