1. In 1825, Washington officially became the last state in the US to abolish public flogging as a form of punishment.

2. On February 3, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed over 3,000 slaves in Washington DC and compensated their owners for their loss of property.

3. In 1927, the first commercial radio station in Washington, WMAL, began broadcasting.

4. On February 3, 1959, rock and roll legend Buddy Holly played his last live show at the Washington Surf Club before tragically dying in a plane crash the next day.

5. In 1986, the Washington Post published an article exposing the Iran-Contra scandal, which involved members of President Ronald Reagan's administration secretly selling weapons to Iran and using the proceeds to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.