A fact from Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 2 July 2005. The text of the entry was as follows:
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L'Enfant identified himself as "Peter Charles L'Enfant" during most of his life, while residing in the United States. (See: Bowling, Kenneth R (2002). Peter Charles L'Enfant: vision, honor, and male friendship in the early American Republic. George Washington University, Washington, D.C.) He wrote this name on his "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States ...." (Washington, D.C.) and on other legal documents. However, during the early 1900's, a French ambassador to the U.S., Jean Jules Jusserand, popularized the use of L'Enfant's birth name, "Pierre Charles L'Enfant". (See: Bowling (2002).) The National Park Service identifies L'Enfant as "Major Peter Charles L'Enfant" and as "Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant" on its website. The United States Code states in 40 U.S.C.§ 3309: "(a) In General.—The purposes of this chapter shall be carried out in the District of Columbia as nearly as may be practicable in harmony with the plan of Peter Charles L'Enfant." The 2010 edition of the United States Capitol Historical Society's calendar identified L'Enfant as "Peter L'Enfant" in the legend of its picture for the month of November. For those reasons, all Wikipedia articles should identify L'Enfant as "Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant", rather than as "Pierre Charles L'Enfant" or as "Pierre L'Enfant. Corker1 (talk) 02:21, 22 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
For anyone else who reads the above comment, for the past several months User:Corker1 has been on a mission: change "Pierre Charles L'Enfant" ---> "Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant" on countless articles, copy and pasting the above information on article talk pages, and adding the above information to articles via the references sections. APKwhisper in my ear02:31, 22 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
