Washington Monument
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Location: Constitution Ave. & 15th St. NW, Washington dc |
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| Price: Free |
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- The monument is a large, white obelisk made of marble, granite, and sandstone in the middle of the National Mall
- Construction began in 1848 and finished in 1884. Upon completion it became the tallest structure in the world at 555 ft 5 1/8 in.
- The cap is made of aluminum, which at the time was a rare metal and had the same value as silver
- It is still the tallest building in Washington, D.C. due to a law made in 1910 restricting new buildings’ height to be no more than 20 feet greater than the width of the street they are on. There is a common misconception that the law states that no building can be taller than the Washington Monument, but the law makes no mention of this
- More than 800,000 visitors a year ride the elevator to the top of the monument
- In 1983 the monument was “held hostage” by a nuclear arms protester named Norman Mayer, claiming to have explosives in his van parked next to the monument. After 10 hours of deliberations, and all 8 hostages being set free, Mayer was shot and killed by park police. Afterwards police discovered that his van did not contain explosives
- On July 15th, 2005 a $15 million dollar security and renovation project was completed that improved the grounds and now makes it impossible for anyone to drive up to the monument
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