Post by Eternal Life on May 3, 2005 20:56:27 GMT -5
sound good?
Washington D.C., our nation’s capital, is an excellent place to learn about the history of the United States of America. It has many amazing monuments that have thousands of people visit them every day. Many historic events have happened on the streets of this city and many more will occur, some of the most famous people in history have lived and even died.
The city was designed by an architect named Pierre L’Enfant. He made it to look like a French town. The city was given land from both Virginia and Maryland but Virginia later took some of its land back so the city is now only 67 square miles in area with an estimated population of 572,000. The Capital Building was made to be at the top of Jenkins Hill where it stands now.
The Jefferson Memorial was made to honor our third President, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s other occupations included being the first Secretary of State. His other job was being our second Vice President. At night this is an amazing monument. You can see the city lit up across the water and, in certain areas, the cherry trees have been cut down so you can see the Jefferson Memorial from the White House. The statue is 19 feet tall and surrounded on four sides by quotes of some of the things he believed in. This is an amazing sight to see at any time.
The Arlington National Cemetery land was once owned by General Robert Lee before the Union forces took over. The cemetery was then established in 1864. It now has over 270,000 graves and thousands of burials each year. In the cemetery is a memorial dedicated to all the unknown soldiers. In front of the memorial a guard paces exactly 21 paces and is changed regularly with great ceremony. The guard for this memorial is kept 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year. John F. Kennedy, his brother, his wife, and his son are buried in the cemetery.
The Capitol building has two wings for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The north wing is where the Senate meets and the south wing is for the House’s meetings. When the Senate or the House is in session a flag flies over that wing. One of the other flags, that are allowed to remain raised 24 hours, is the flag at the Capitol’s entrance.
In 1814, on August 24, the British made an attempt to burn the Capitol and the White House. After this the Capitol is restored and a cast iron dome made for the top. The statue “Armed Freedom” atop the dome was also made during the fire.
The White House, the residence of the President and his family, was first lived in by John Adams, our second president. The house has 134 rooms, 32 that are used for living in. The White House operator gets thousands of calls each day. The cause of the greatest number of phone calls recorded was the death of Elvis Presley.
This building is not only used for living in, but also for the use of the Executive Branch. The Oval Office, headquarters for the Executive Branch, was built in 1909. Ninety-two years earlier this house was burned by the British and had to be restored. To hide the burn marks the house was painted white, inspiring the name it has today.
The Lincoln Memorial is another amazing sight, made of separate blocks of white marble. The statue of Abraham Lincoln is 19 feet tall sitting! It would be 28 feet tall if it was standing! It is a very impressive figure and one which many come to see. The 36 columns surrounding Lincoln represent the number of states during the civil war. Two of Lincoln’s speeches, the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address, are written on the walls beside him.
In front of the memorial lies the Reflecting Pool. The Reflecting Pool is called this because on calm days it reflects the whole Washington Memorial. To the left of the memorial, when facing the Reflecting Pool, is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Vietnam Memorial was designed by a 21 year old college student, Maya Ying Lin. Lin’s design was a large V-shaped wall that had the names of all the people who went to Vietnam and never came back. There are almost 60,000 names on the wall which is made of polished black marble. Every day people leave tokens for their lost family members.
The Korean Memorial is directly across the Reflecting Pool from the Vietnam Memorial. The Korean Memorial is for those who served in the Korean Conflict. On a 164 foot long wall are etched photographs of some people from the military. This was very cool because you could only see the pictures from a certain angle and the faces had such character. It was a very cool memorial.
The Holocaust Museum was the most touching of the sites I saw. Adolph Hitler was the president of the Nazis who later became Chancellor of Germany. Soon after this six million Jews and others are killed by the German Nazis regime. In 1993 the Holocaust Museum opened to honor those who died. In the museum tourists are given cards with names, pictures, and journal entries of real people who lived during this time.
I had the story of Johanna Hirsch. She was born November 28, 1924 in Karlsruhe, Germany. Hanne, as she was called, was born to a Jewish family. Hanne’s father died in 1925 and her mother maintained his photography studio. Hanne was sent to a concentration camp but was freed and she escaped to Switzerland. Hanne married Max Liebmann and moved to the United States three years later. I found these stories very moving and it made me happy that Hanne was lucky enough to survive unlike others.
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum complex. It has 16 museums, 3 of which I’ve seen. The museums I’ve seen are the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum.
The Museum of American History opened in 1964. It concentrates on the history of culture, technology, and many other things, in the United States. The Air and Space Museum has many old airplanes, including the Wright Brothers’ 1903 Flyer, and spacecrafts that were actually flown. It also has histories on many of these things and a moon rock that you can touch.
The Museum of Natural History was my favorite of all the museums I saw. It had an amazing collection of skeletons from dinosaurs and other ancient beasts. My utmost favorite part of the museum, though, was the collection of precious gems and rocks. In this area the 44.5 carat Hope diamond was located, an impressive gem, though it did not catch my eye as much as the case of opals did.
Gettysburg is where a three day battle during the Civil War took place. It was the battle where Pickett’s Charge happened and the turning point of the war. On the fields of Gettysburg a person might still be able to find a bone from someone lost to this battle because during that time it was not possible to put the dead in proper graves. Many were buried in graves only a handful of inches below the surface. Though most of these skeletons have been moved to a proper grave not all were found. Over 51,000 soldiers were killed in this one battle. The Union won and later went on to win the Civil War which freed slaves in the United States.
Washington D.C. is clearly an amazing historic place. Its many sites and monuments make it a wonderful place to visit. I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to visit and I hope to go again.
Washington D.C., our nation’s capital, is an excellent place to learn about the history of the United States of America. It has many amazing monuments that have thousands of people visit them every day. Many historic events have happened on the streets of this city and many more will occur, some of the most famous people in history have lived and even died.
The city was designed by an architect named Pierre L’Enfant. He made it to look like a French town. The city was given land from both Virginia and Maryland but Virginia later took some of its land back so the city is now only 67 square miles in area with an estimated population of 572,000. The Capital Building was made to be at the top of Jenkins Hill where it stands now.
The Jefferson Memorial was made to honor our third President, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s other occupations included being the first Secretary of State. His other job was being our second Vice President. At night this is an amazing monument. You can see the city lit up across the water and, in certain areas, the cherry trees have been cut down so you can see the Jefferson Memorial from the White House. The statue is 19 feet tall and surrounded on four sides by quotes of some of the things he believed in. This is an amazing sight to see at any time.
The Arlington National Cemetery land was once owned by General Robert Lee before the Union forces took over. The cemetery was then established in 1864. It now has over 270,000 graves and thousands of burials each year. In the cemetery is a memorial dedicated to all the unknown soldiers. In front of the memorial a guard paces exactly 21 paces and is changed regularly with great ceremony. The guard for this memorial is kept 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year. John F. Kennedy, his brother, his wife, and his son are buried in the cemetery.
The Capitol building has two wings for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The north wing is where the Senate meets and the south wing is for the House’s meetings. When the Senate or the House is in session a flag flies over that wing. One of the other flags, that are allowed to remain raised 24 hours, is the flag at the Capitol’s entrance.
In 1814, on August 24, the British made an attempt to burn the Capitol and the White House. After this the Capitol is restored and a cast iron dome made for the top. The statue “Armed Freedom” atop the dome was also made during the fire.
The White House, the residence of the President and his family, was first lived in by John Adams, our second president. The house has 134 rooms, 32 that are used for living in. The White House operator gets thousands of calls each day. The cause of the greatest number of phone calls recorded was the death of Elvis Presley.
This building is not only used for living in, but also for the use of the Executive Branch. The Oval Office, headquarters for the Executive Branch, was built in 1909. Ninety-two years earlier this house was burned by the British and had to be restored. To hide the burn marks the house was painted white, inspiring the name it has today.
The Lincoln Memorial is another amazing sight, made of separate blocks of white marble. The statue of Abraham Lincoln is 19 feet tall sitting! It would be 28 feet tall if it was standing! It is a very impressive figure and one which many come to see. The 36 columns surrounding Lincoln represent the number of states during the civil war. Two of Lincoln’s speeches, the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address, are written on the walls beside him.
In front of the memorial lies the Reflecting Pool. The Reflecting Pool is called this because on calm days it reflects the whole Washington Memorial. To the left of the memorial, when facing the Reflecting Pool, is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Vietnam Memorial was designed by a 21 year old college student, Maya Ying Lin. Lin’s design was a large V-shaped wall that had the names of all the people who went to Vietnam and never came back. There are almost 60,000 names on the wall which is made of polished black marble. Every day people leave tokens for their lost family members.
The Korean Memorial is directly across the Reflecting Pool from the Vietnam Memorial. The Korean Memorial is for those who served in the Korean Conflict. On a 164 foot long wall are etched photographs of some people from the military. This was very cool because you could only see the pictures from a certain angle and the faces had such character. It was a very cool memorial.
The Holocaust Museum was the most touching of the sites I saw. Adolph Hitler was the president of the Nazis who later became Chancellor of Germany. Soon after this six million Jews and others are killed by the German Nazis regime. In 1993 the Holocaust Museum opened to honor those who died. In the museum tourists are given cards with names, pictures, and journal entries of real people who lived during this time.
I had the story of Johanna Hirsch. She was born November 28, 1924 in Karlsruhe, Germany. Hanne, as she was called, was born to a Jewish family. Hanne’s father died in 1925 and her mother maintained his photography studio. Hanne was sent to a concentration camp but was freed and she escaped to Switzerland. Hanne married Max Liebmann and moved to the United States three years later. I found these stories very moving and it made me happy that Hanne was lucky enough to survive unlike others.
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum complex. It has 16 museums, 3 of which I’ve seen. The museums I’ve seen are the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum.
The Museum of American History opened in 1964. It concentrates on the history of culture, technology, and many other things, in the United States. The Air and Space Museum has many old airplanes, including the Wright Brothers’ 1903 Flyer, and spacecrafts that were actually flown. It also has histories on many of these things and a moon rock that you can touch.
The Museum of Natural History was my favorite of all the museums I saw. It had an amazing collection of skeletons from dinosaurs and other ancient beasts. My utmost favorite part of the museum, though, was the collection of precious gems and rocks. In this area the 44.5 carat Hope diamond was located, an impressive gem, though it did not catch my eye as much as the case of opals did.
Gettysburg is where a three day battle during the Civil War took place. It was the battle where Pickett’s Charge happened and the turning point of the war. On the fields of Gettysburg a person might still be able to find a bone from someone lost to this battle because during that time it was not possible to put the dead in proper graves. Many were buried in graves only a handful of inches below the surface. Though most of these skeletons have been moved to a proper grave not all were found. Over 51,000 soldiers were killed in this one battle. The Union won and later went on to win the Civil War which freed slaves in the United States.
Washington D.C. is clearly an amazing historic place. Its many sites and monuments make it a wonderful place to visit. I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to visit and I hope to go again.
