Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is a monolith on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., worked to remember George Washington, once president of the Continental Army and the principal American president. Standing verging on due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the landmark, made of marble, rock, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest monolith, standing 554 feet 7 11⁄32 inches (169.046 m) tall.[n 1] It is the tallest amazing section on the planet if all are measured over their walker passageways, yet two are taller when measured over the ground, however they are neither all stone nor genuine pillars.

Development of the landmark started in 1848, and was stopped from 1854 to 1877 because of an absence of assets, a battle for control over the Washington National Monument Society, and the intercession of the American Civil War. In spite of the fact that the stone structure was finished in 1884, inward ironwork, the meadow, and other completing touches were not finished until 1888. A distinction in shading of the marble, obvious around 150 feet (46 m) or 27% up, shows where development was ended and later continued with marble from an alternate source. The first plan was by Robert Mills, a draftsman amid first 50% of the nineteenth century, yet he suspended his corridor, continuing just with his pillar, whose level top was modified to a pointed marble pyramidion in 1884. The foundation was laid on July 4, 1848; the main stone at the 152-foot (46.3 m) level was laid August 7, 1880, the capstone was determined to December 6, 1884, and the finished landmark was committed on February 21, 1885.[12] It formally opened October 9, 1888. Upon fruition, it turned into the world's tallest structure, a title already held by the Cologne Cathedral. The landmark held this assignment until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was finished in Paris, France.

The monument was damaged during the 2011 Virginia earthquake and Hurricane Irene in the same year and remained closed to the public while the structure was assessed and repaired.^[13] After 32 months of repairs, the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall reopened the Washington Monument to visitors on May 12, 2014.

George Washington (1732–99), hailed as the father of his country, and as the leader who was "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen" (in eulogy byMaj. Gen. 'Light-Horse Harry' Lee at Washington's funeral, December 26, 1799), was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. Even his erstwhile enemy King George III called him "the greatest character of the age