Whether you were stuck in downtown traffic yesterday morning – or had a birds-eye view from your office – you couldn’t help but notice it.
An ominous black plume of smoke rising from the vicinity of the National Mall, which soon towered over even the Washington Monument.
A terrorist attack? A rogue firecracker from yesterday’s Chinatown parade? A Superbowl barbecue gone awry?
The culprit was actually a small fire on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
Historic District 