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Dead Stop
1:57 am
Fri August 17, 2012

How Congressional Cemetery Got Its Name

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Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Congressional Cemetery was founded in 1807, when Washington, D.C., was a new town. The 35-acre historic burial ground is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, overlooking the Anacostia River.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Congressional Cemetery is home to 171 cenotaphs honoring members of Congress who have died. The tradition began in the early 19th century, when it was often impossible to transport bodies home for burial. Later, as this became less of an issue, members of Congress still chose to have a marker in the cemetery, even if their final resting place was elsewhere.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Washington funeral grounds like Congressional Cemetery often served as parks for the city's residents. Gravestones shaped like picnic tables encouraged people to come and spend the day, and even have a picnic.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Congressional Cemetery also serves as a private dog park. Neighbors have walked their dogs in the cemetery for years.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
In the 1990s, as the cemetery fell into disrepair, a small group started paying to mow the grass. That group grew to become the K9 Corps — an official organization of the Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
In the 1830s, a public vault was built with federal appropriations money, because Congress decided it was useful to have a holding place for the deceased while arrangements were being made.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
An old iron key unlocks the public vault on the cemetery grounds.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Because of Congressional Cemetery's age, the gravestones' styles are varied. More uniform headstone styles didn't become common until the 1870s.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
The cemetery that served as the first national burial ground remains an active cemetery. Here, the headstone of Rep. Tom Lantos of California, who died in 2008. The stones on top have been left by visitors as a mark of respect for Lantos, per Jewish tradition.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Among the cemetery's many luminaries is Washington native John Phillip Sousa, the bandmaster of the Marine Corps Band, who wrote more than 300 compositions. Each year on Sousa's birthday, the Marine Band pays a visit to the cemetery to play a musical tribute.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Rebecca Roberts serves as program director at Congressional Cemetery and is the co-author of a new book on the cemetery and its history. Her grandfather Hale Boggs, a representative from Louisiana, has a cenotaph in the cemetery. Boggs was aboard a plane that disappeared over Alaska in 1972 and presumably crashed; his body has never been recovered.
Credit Blake Lipthratt / NPR
Congressional Cemetery was founded in 1807, when Washington, D.C., was a new town. The 35-acre historic burial ground is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, overlooking the Anacostia River.
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By editor

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 10:06 am

Back at the turn of the 19th century, Uriah Tracey was something of a trendsetter. The Connecticut senator was one of the first to fight in the Revolutionary War — and then one of the first to attempt secession from the Union. And in 1807, he was the first member of Congress buried in what later became known as Congressional Cemetery, in Washington, D.C.

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Animals
1:57 am
Fri August 17, 2012

Swarming Up A Storm: Why Animals School And Flock

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A school of Blue Tang fish swimming together off the Caribbean island of Bonaire. It has long been assumed that the schooling behavior of fish evolved in part to protect animals from being attacked by predators.
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Starlings fly over the Piazza Venezia as night falls in Rome.
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Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 10:06 am

By tricking live fish into attacking computer-generated "prey," scientists have learned that animals like birds and fish may indeed have evolved to swarm together to protect themselves from the threat of predators.

"Effectively, what we're doing here is we're getting predatory fish to play a video game," says Iain Couzin, who studies collective animal behavior at Princeton University. "And through playing that game, through seeing which virtual prey items they attack, we can get a very deep understanding of as to how behavioral interactions among prey affect their survival."

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Law
1:47 am
Fri August 17, 2012

When The Lawyer Becomes The Object Of Prosecution

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U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer says Charles Daum, a longtime lawyer, betrayed his profession.
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Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 10:06 am

For more than 30 years, Charles Daum made a living by defending people accused of run-of-the-mill crimes. Then he met a charismatic Washington, D.C.-area man charged with distributing cocaine.

What happened next is a plot worthy of a television crime drama.

The accused drug dealer, Delante White, turned the tables and helped convict his own defense lawyer of manufacturing evidence and putting on false testimony to help the drug dealer's case.

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Economy
1:46 am
Fri August 17, 2012

Low Mortgage Rates Boost 'Serial Refinancers'

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Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 1:35 pm

Refinance activity continues to boom, fueling the home-loan market. Low interest rates have created a class of "serial refinancers" — those lucky enough to borrow at lower rates — and given them new opportunities to spend their freed up cash.

Settlement attorney Robert Gratz never used to be on a first-name basis with his clients.

"In the past, our practice was such that you'd see people, and that was the end of it," he says.

Gratz now sees the same faces all the time, of clients refinancing again and again — these days in the mid-3 percent range.

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Planet Money
1:44 am
Fri August 17, 2012

Competing Against The Nicest Guy In Town

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Hondo (left) and Dizz.
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Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 1:36 pm

For more: Why does the government subsidize crop insurance in the first place? We try to answer that question in our latest podcast.

The federal government spends about $7 billion a year on crop insurance for U.S. farmers. Policies are sold by private companies, but the government sets the rates, so the companies can't compete on price.

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