THE STORM THAT SAVED WASHINGTON:  On this day in 1814, it rained like hell in Washington, D.C.  Some historians say it was probably a hurricane.  Whatever it was, it saved the day.  Maybe.

In the midst of the War of 1812, the British had invaded Washington, D.C. setting the Capitol, the White House, the Treasury Building, the War Department, and other buildings afire.  (Yes, this was the time Dolley Madison saved Gilbert Stuart’s 8-foot portrait of George Washington as she fled the White House.)

The storm, which spawned at least one killer tornado, dispatched the Brits. They got out of Washington as fast as they could.  And the rain put out the fires.  It was providence …

Or else it didn’t quite happen that way.  The counter-narrative is that the British hadn’t intended to stay anyway.  They just came to burn the city.  And the storm actually damaged buildings that the British hadn’t burned.  I won’t try to resolve the controversy.  I don’t want to run the risk of spoiling everything.