Has losing its AAA bond rating hurt the United States?

When Washington disputes over the federal budget and debt limit prompted Standard & Poor's to strip the U.S. of its gold-plated rating for the first time last year, the stock market plummeted, the dollar dropped and interest rates shot up. A year later, most of those problems have reversed themselves and it's practically business as usual, including deep disputes between the White House and Congress over spending, taxes and debt. Did council candidate Kenyan McDuffie campaign at the D.C. Jail?

Internet rumors abound that the man who won a May 15 special election for District Council in Ward 5 campaigned inside the city lockup, but campaign regulators say that isn't true. The woman who filed a formal complaint, which she based on the comments of an anonymous source, has withdrawn that complaint. McDuffie filled the seat of former Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., who is now serving a 38-month prison sentence for stealing money from a youth sports group.

Who was the first person to get a Social Security check?

Ida May Fuller, a retired legal secretary from Ludlow, Vt., received her first monthly Social Security check in January 1940, according to the Social Security Administration. Fuller, who was 65 at the time and lived to be 100, paid into Social Security for three years, but received benefits for about 35 years. Her $24.75 in taxes netted lifetime benefits of $22,889.