It was the site of one of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural balls in 1953, the first concert by The Beatles in the United States in 1964, and several other memorable moments in sports, show business, politics and in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

[2] His parents decided to leave their home in the province of North Brabant due to numerous floodings in the area of the Maas river and the Uline family emigrated to the United States in 1890, when Michiel was 16 years old.

On March 14, 1940, Coach Bill Reinhart of the George Washington University basketball team was critical of the design: there were too many seats behind the backboards and not enough on the sidelines.

[6] On March 20, the architect, Joe Harry Lapish, responded to the criticism by stating that the arena would be able to house between 6,500 and 7,000 basketball spectators including 4,500 to 5,000 highly desirable seats on the sidelines.

[7] On December 28, 1940, while the arena was nearing completion, Michael Uline announced that it would open on January 28, 1941, and would present a 15-performance engagement of "Ice-Capades of 1941" in 13 days which would end on February 9.

The heated arena would feature arm-rest seats, each with a complete and unhindered view of the ice by post supports and beams.

A rodeo was planned and other activities were in the works: roller follies, a defense exposition, possibly a Cherry Blossom Festival, professional, collegiate and amateur hockey, boxing and college basketball were also considered.

However, it seems that the ice was faulty that was to be remediated by the following night: the "blades cut the brittle surface like snowball scrapers and precipitated several unscheduled spills".

[17] On November 3, 1941, just a few weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war on December 7, 1941, the Pageant of American Freedom took place at the Uline Arena.

All proceeds went to the D.C. Defense Council and the ad featured Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy waving a flag, playing the drums and the flute.

Dances took place at the Hamilton, Mayflower, Shoreham and Wardman Park Hotels as well as the Uline Arena and the Lincoln Colonnade from 9 pm to 1 am.

[19] Several Hollywood Stars were also present including Rosalind Russell, Carol Bruce, Dorothy Lamour, Dinah Shore, Gene Raymond, and Pat O'Brien.

[23] During the 1946–1947, 1949–1950, and 1950–1951 seasons, the Georgetown University Hoyas men's basketball team played home games at Uline Arena.

[28] Mamie Eisenhower wore a pink peau de soie gown embroidered with more than 2,000 rhinestones designed by Nettie Rosenstein.

[29] On March 16, 1956, retired boxer Joe Louis made his debut as a professional wrestler at Uline Arena, defeating Cowboy Rocky Lee.

[30][31][32] Earlier that year on January 27, 1956, he had been the referee in the Uline Arena of a wrestling match between "Nature Boy" Rogers and Cowboy Rocky Lee.

[34] On May 31, 1959, Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, gave a speech in the arena to close to 10,000 members who had flown in from 70 cities and 23 states.

"[35][36] Harry G. Lynn, former vice-president of Fairfax Distributing Co., national buyer of the Kay Jewelry chain was a native of Kansas City.

Uline's daughters and widows had managed the arena after his death but this was seen as the settlement of his estate after the will's authenticity was contested the previous year.

Seven years after the US Supreme Court had made segregation in schools illegal with the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, less than 6% were compliant.

[40] On February 11, 1964, the Beatles played their first concert in the United States at the Washington Coliseum,[41] less than 48 hours after the band's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

[47][48] The following songs were played in this order: The commentary by Leroy Aarons, The Washington Post national correspondent reviewing the concert, surprised many people in the DC area who had not realized how large a following the band had garnered during its first visit to the United States.

A bootleg copy of the full concert appears to have been available in fall 2003 but it was immediately removed from the market after Apple Records lawyers objected.

[49] The concert film is now available in its entirety exclusively from the iTunes Store as part of The Beatles Box Set on the Past Masters, Vols.

They sat in the seats under the red, white and blue pennants hanging from the ceiling and the large Pepsi Cola clock and scoreboard.

[57] The detention center was visited by DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy and several congressmen including William F. Ryan (D-NY) and Robert Drinan (D-Massachusetts).

They did admit that "the five sets of doors were locked at one time" earlier in the evening but said that they had been reopened once the police had cleared the lobby of would-be gate crashers.

In 1970, Harry Lynn had proactively sold the Coliseum knowing he could not compete with the bigger and better venue being built by his friend Abe Pollin.

Waste Management applied for a demolition permit on May 9, 2003,[23] and the D.C. Preservation League responded June 11 by listing the building in its "Most Endangered Places for 2003".

After several decades of a slow death, the building experienced a rebirth in the now hip NoMa neighborhood, within walking distance from the NoMa–Gallaudet U station, which opened in 2004.