Tuesday, December 6, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 6, 1884: Washington Monument completed


On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city's namesake and the nation's first president, George Washington.  As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L'Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument's present location).

It wasn't until 1832, however--33 years after Washington's death--that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue's construction. These efforts--including appeals to the nation's schoolchildren--raised some $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Construction began anyway, on July 4, 1848, as representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.

Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain described the unfinished monument as looking like a "hollow, oversized chimney." No further progress was made until 1876--the centennial of American independence--when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.

Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.--a fitting tribute to the man known as the "Father of His Country."

American Revolution
Whitemarsh skirmishes turn in Americans' favor, 1777
Automotive
Deaf stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil sets women's land-speed record, 1976
Civil War
The 13th Amendment is ratified, 1865
Cold War
Protests against Soviet treatment of Jews take place in Washington and Moscow, 1987
Crime
Train robbers reach the end of the line, 1868
Disaster
Ships explode in Canadian harbor, 1917
General Interest
The Monongah coal mine disaster, 1907
The Great Halifax Explosion, 1917
Irish Free State declared, 1921
Hollywood
Brokeback Mountain premieres, 2005
Literary
Ulysses is ruled not obscene, 1933
Music
The Altamont Festival brings the 1960s to a violent end, 1969
Old West
French-Canadian explorer La Verendrye dies, 1749
Presidential
Monument to Washington completed, 1884
Sports
Jerry Rice scores record-breaking touchdown, 1992
Vietnam War
Operation Farm Gate combat missions authorized, 1961
Fighting continues in South Vietnam while negotiators talk in Paris, 1972
World War I
Munitions ship explodes in Halifax, 1917
World War II
Roosevelt to Japanese emperor: "Prevent further death and destruction", 1941

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