WASHINGTON—Photographer Mark Sloan is known for his work documenting circus and sideshow history, and in “The Rarest of the Rare: Stories Behind the Treasures at the Harvard Museum of Natural History,“ at the National Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St. NW, Washington, on view through Jan. 7, it shows. Sloan, who lives in Charleston, S.C., went behind the scenes at the Harvard museum, which houses 21 million specimens including ants, tusks, meteorites, bird eggs, mollusk shells and gorgeous jaguar, cheetah and zebra hides.

On a Christian pilgrimage with her church group, Kristin Toorop looks up to Calvary, and her eyes open wide. She listens as tour guide Gloria Harrington tells the story of where Christ was crucified, with Mary Magdalene kneeling at his feet. “I’m sure you recognize the scene of Jesus on the cross, between two thieves,“ Harrington says, before leading the group to take a closer look. “Let’s go up to Calvary.“

SAN ANTONIO Retired Army Sgt. Richard Yarosh has gotten used to the stares. His face is blanketed in knotty scar tissue. His nose tip is missing. His ears are gone, as is part of his right leg. His fingers are permanently bent and rigid. All is the result of an explosion in Iraq that doused him in fuel and fire three years ago. “I know people are curious,“ he said. “They’ll stop in their tracks and look. I guess I can understand. I probably would have stared, too.“

WASHINGTON—Thousands of gay-rights supporters marched yesterday from the White House to the Capitol. They demanded that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays. Rainbow flags and homemade signs dotted the crowds filling Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as people chanted “Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama” and “We’re out, we’re proud, we won’t back down.“ Many children were also among the protesters.

Yesterday Virginia launched its first state-funded city-to-city passenger trains. The three-year, taxpayer-subsidized pilot program—making runs to Washington from Lynchburg and Richmond—will measure the feasibility of intercity rail. Virginia will shell out several million dollars a year to subsidize the operational side of the endeavor, on top of more than $100 million in infrastructure improvements.

Washington’s momentum from its shocking upset of Southern California lasted as long as the opening kickoff. Chris Owusu returned the opening kick 91 yards for a touchdown and Toby Gerhart ran for a career-high 200 yards and a score to help Stanford spoil No. 24 Washington’s first game as a ranked team in six years with a 34-14 victory Saturday night in a Pac-10 game.

Prince William County has once again been singled out for bad traffic. On the heels of a report that said area commuters have the worst trek to work of any spot in the nation, the authors of a new study have also noted the area for having some of the worst bottlenecks in the Washington region. INRIX—a Washington state-based company that collects traffic data for the Virginia Department of Transportation, the I-95 Corridor Coalition, Ford Motor Company and various GPS providers—issued a report that marked Washington as having the fourth-worst traffic in the U.S.

If you want to see the White House decorated for Christmas in the first year of the Barack Obama administration, you might already be too late. Christmas is one of the more popular times to tour the home of the president. With requests accepted up to six months in advance, tour slots fill fast. The White House puts the tour list together on a first-come, first-served basis, and you won’t know whether you have tickets until about three weeks before the tour.

Thousands of demonstrators from across the country marched up Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday beneath assorted banners with a unified theme: anger at President Barack Obama and his agenda. Organizers of the loosely knit coalition of anti-tax, small-government proponents were hoping for a crowd of 25,000 to 50,000, billing the march as the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives in the history of the nation’s capital.

Tours are available daily on the hour between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The cost is $14 per person at the Spy Museum box office; $16 if purchased online.
Visit http://www.spymuseum.org.

Washington shows off some of the best of the U.S. in its monuments and museums, but if that’s all you ever see in the nation’s capital, you’re missing out. The rest of the world also sends some of its best to Washington. Embassies, exhibits and restaurants make Washington an international city, if you just take the time to look.

Wales, Latin music and “The Power of Words in African-American Culture” will be the themes of this summer’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival. About a million people attend the annual event, which showcases cultural diversity. It is produced by the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and co-sponsored by the National Park Service.

SAN FRANCISCO Mere mention of the milestone causes Randy Johnson to recoil. “I’m not going to talk about this stuff. OK, I got to go,“ he said the other day, quickly leaving his locker and heading to the field. “I get distracted. I just try not to talk at all.“ So that’s how it’s going to be as the Big Unit prepares for his first try at 300 wins tomorrow night at Washington.

NEW YORK - New York Jets running back Leon Washington returned to the team yesterday after boycotting practice the past three weeks while in a contract dispute. Washington, selected for his first Pro Bowl last season as a kick returner, was back on the field to start New York’s final week of team activities. Agent Alvin Keels wrote on his Twitter page that Washington returned “while we continue to work on a contract extension for him. A move of good faith.“

James Madison University will honor former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in September with its Mahatma Gandhi Global Nonviolence Award. The award recognizes the Carters’ humanitarian efforts around the globe, said Sushil Mittal, director of JMU’s Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence. After leaving the White House, the Carters founded the Atlanta-based Carter Center, a nonprofit organization that seeks to resolve conflicts and improve health around the world.