Practice Makes Perfect
Military personnel act as stand-ins for President-elect George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush, Vice President-elect J. Danforth Quayle and Marilyn Quayle during a rehearsal prior to the Inauguration Day ceremonies of the 41st president of the United States, 01/15/1989
The Inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his Inaugural Address after taking the oath of office as President. Former Presidents Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, and other dignitaries, look on. 01/20/53.
-from the Eisenhower Library
On September 18, 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol building, the future home of the legislative branch of government.
Six years earlier, on September 17, 1787, Washington was among the 39 men who signed the United States Constitution; effectively putting the framework of the new government into place. Despite this, the physical location of the government would not be completed for many years.
The north wing was finished in 1800; the south wing in 1811. Then the Capitol was burned in the War of 1812, but a rainstorm saved it from complete destruction (Congress was forced to meet in temporary quarters until 1819). During the Civil War, it was used as Union barracks.
Now, 219 years later, the building stands completed, with 540 rooms. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first President to be inaugurated at the Capitol, a tradition that continues to this day.
Photograph of the Capitol Building under construction in Washington, DC.
On August 6, 1965, The Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act applied a nationwide prohibition of the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color. It outlawed discriminatory literacy tests, expanded voting rights for non-English speaking Americans, and appointed Federal examiners to oversee voter registration and elections. Read More
The law had an immediate impact. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new African American voters had been registered, one-third by Federal examiners.
In this photo, LBJ signs the Voting Rights Act in the Capitol Rotunda, Washington, DC. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders stand behind him.
The Space Shuttle Discovery, chillin’ over the Capitol. The shuttle, decommissioned last year after a long career with many miles logged, is flying to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to become a part of it. (shot by @DaveStroup, ht @ProducerMatthew)