1.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
2.
National Mall
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The National Mall is a national park in downtown Washington, D. C. the capital of the United States. The National Park Service administers the National Mall, which is part of its National Mall, a smaller designation, sometimes referred to as the Mall proper, excludes both the Capitol grounds and the Washington Monument grounds, applying only to an area between them. The National Mall contains a number of museums and memorials and receives approximately 24 million visitors each year, in his 1791 plan for the future city of Washington, D. C. The National Mall occupies the site of this grand avenue. The Washington Monument stands near the site of its namesakes equestrian statue. Mathew Careys 1802 map is reported to be the first to name the area west of the United States Capitol as the Mall, during the early 1850s, architect and horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing designed a landscape plan for the Mall. Over the next century, federal agencies developed several naturalistic parks within the Mall in accordance with Downings plan. Two such areas were Henry Park and Seaton Park, in addition, railroad tracks crossed the Mall on 6th Street, west of the Capitol. Near the tracks, a market and a railroad station rose on the north side of the Mall. Greenhouses belonging to the U. S. Botanic Garden appeared near the east end of the Mall, the plan differed from LEnfants by replacing the 400 feet wide grand avenue with a 300 feet wide vista containing a long and broad expanse of grass. Four rows of American elm trees planted fifty feet apart between two paths or streets would line each side of the vista. Buildings housing cultural and educational institutions constructed in the Beaux-Arts style would line each outer path or street, on the opposite side of the path or street from the elms. In subsequent years, the vision of the McMillan plan was followed with the planting of American elms. In accordance with a plan that it completed in 1976, the NPS converted the two innermost boulevards into gravel walking paths, the two outermost boulevards remain paved and open to vehicular traffic. Although the Navy intended the buildings to provide quarters for the United States military during World War I. Much of the area then became Constitution Gardens, which was dedicated in 1976. From the 1970s to 1994, a model of a triceratops named Uncle Beazley stood on the Mall in front of the National Museum of Natural History. The life-size statue, which is now located at the National Zoological Park in Northwest Washington, in 2003, the 108th United States Congress enacted the Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act
3.
Constitution Avenue
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Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D. C. in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its section was greatly lengthened and widened between 1925 and 1933. It received its current name on February 26,1931, Constitution Avenues western half defines the northern border of the National Mall and extends from the United States Capitol to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. Its eastern half runs through the neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and Kingman Park before it terminates at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, a large number of federal departmental headquarters, memorials, and museums line Constitution Avenues western segment. In Pierre Charles LEnfants original plan for the city in 1791, B Street NW began at 6th Street NW and its eastern segment, which was unimpeded by any water obstacles, ran straight to the Eastern Branch river. Along its entire length, B Street was 60 feet wide, LEnfant proposed turning Tiber Creek into a canal. His plan included cutting a new canal south across the side of the United States Capitol grounds. The Washington Canal Company was incorporated in 1802, and after several false starts substantial work began in 1810, the Washington City Canal began operation in 1815. The canal suffered from problems and economic competition almost immediately. Traffic on the canal was adversely affected by forces, which the builders had not accounted for. At low tide, portions of the canal were almost dry, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built Washington Branch into the city in 1835, competition from railroads left the canal economically unviable. Although the Washington City Canal remained in use after the coming of the railroad, by 1855 it had filled with silt and it remained in this condition throughout the 1860s. In 1871, Congress abolished the elected mayor and bicameral legislature of the District of Columbia, territorial government only lasted until 1874, but during this period the D. C. Board of Public Works enclosed the canal and turned it into a sewer, B Street NW from 15th Street to Virginia Avenue NW was constructed on top of it. Work began in October 1871 and was complete in December 1873 and this reclaimed land — which today includes West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin — was largely complete by 1890, and designated Potomac Park by Congress in 1897. B Street NW extended through the newly created West Potomac Park between Virginia Avenue NW and 23rd Street NW, however, since this area was considered parkland, the street narrowed to just 40-foot in width. But Congress appropriated no money for the design or construction due to the onset of World War I, but after President Warren G. Congress approved funding for design work on June 12,1922, and authorized construction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge on February 24,1925. The 1925 legislation specified that B Street NW be treated as an approach to Arlington Memorial Bridge
4.
United States Secretary of War
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The Secretary of War was a member of the United States Presidents Cabinet, beginning with George Washingtons administration. A similar position, called either Secretary at War or Secretary of War, had appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789. Benjamin Lincoln and later Henry Knox held the position, when Washington was inaugurated as the first president under the Constitution, he appointed Knox to continue serving. The Secretary of War was the head of the War Department, at first, he was responsible for all military affairs, including naval affairs. In 1798, the Secretary of the Navy was created by statute, from 1886 onward, the Secretary of War was third in the line of succession to the presidency, after the Vice President of the United States and the Secretary of State. The office of Secretary at War was modelled upon Great Britains Secretary at War, the office of Secretary at War was meant replaced both the Commander-in-Chief and the Board of War, and like the President of the Board, the Secretary wore no special insignia. The Inspector General, Quartermaster General, Commissary General, and Adjutant General served on the Secretarys staff, however, the Army itself under Secretary Henry Knox only consisted of 700 men. Parties No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican Confederate States Secretary of War Bell, commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775-2005, Portraits and Biographical Sketches. United States Army Center of Military History, encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet 1789-2010. Charlottesville, Virginia, The Judge Advocate Generals School, U. S. Army
5.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
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Maintained by the General Services Administration, it is occupied by the Executive Office of the President, including the Office of the Vice President of the United States. It was for years the worlds largest office building, with 566 rooms, many White House employees have their offices in the massive edifice. The building—originally called the State, War, and Navy Building because it housed the Departments of State, War, and it was designed by Alfred B. The OEOB was referred to by Mark Twain as the ugliest building in America, President Harry S. Truman called it the greatest monstrosity in America. Historian Henry Adams called it Mulletts “architectural infant asylum, the total cost to construct the building came in at $10,038,482.42 when construction ended in 1888, after 17 years. The original tenants of the building quickly outgrew it and finally vacated it completely in the late 1930s, the building gradually came to be seen as inefficient and was nearly demolished in 1957. In 1969, the received the highest recognition possible, becoming a National Historic Landmark. In 1981, plans began to restore all the secretary of suites, the main office of the Secretary of the Navy was restored in 1987 and is now used as the ceremonial office of the Vice President of the United States. Shortly after September 11,2001, the 17th Street side of the building was vacated and has since been modernized and its most public function is that of the Vice Presidents Ceremonial Office, which is mainly used for special meetings and press conferences. Many celebrated national figures have participated in events that have taken place within the Old Executive Office Building. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush all had offices in this building before becoming President. It has housed 16 Secretaries of the Navy,21 Secretaries of War, sir Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met there with Secretary of State Cordell Hull after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Herbert Hoover occupied the Secretary of the Navys office for a few months following a fire in the Oval Office on Christmas Eve 1929, President Eisenhower held the first televised Presidential news conference in the buildings Indian Treaty Room on January 19,1955. In more recent history, Richard Nixon had an office there during his presidency. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first in a succession of Vice Presidents who have had offices in the building. The first wife of a Vice President to have an office in the building was Marilyn Quayle, wife of Dan Quayle, Vice President to George H. W. Bush. The Old Executive Office Building was renamed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building when President Bill Clinton approved legislation changing the name on November 9,1999, President George W. Bush participated in a rededication ceremony on May 7,2002. A small fire on December 19,2007 damaged an office of the vice-presidents staff, according to media reporting, the office of the Vice Presidents Political Director, Amy Whitelaw, was heavily damaged in the fire
6.
The Pentagon
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The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D. C. As a symbol of the U. S. military, The Pentagon is often used metonymically to refer to the U. S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon was designed by American architect George Bergstrom, and built by general contractor John McShain of Philadelphia. Ground was broken for construction on September 11,1941, General Brehon Somervell provided the major motive power behind the project, Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U. S. Army. The Pentagon is one of the worlds largest office buildings, with about 6,500,000 sq ft, approximately 23,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi of corridors. It was the first significant foreign attack on Washingtons governmental facilities since the city was burned by the British, when World War II broke out in Europe, the War Department rapidly expanded in anticipation that the United States would be drawn into the conflict. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, with the Munitions Building overcrowded, Stimson told U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in May 1941 that the War Department needed additional space. On July 17,1941, a hearing took place, organized by Virginia congressman Clifton Woodrum. Reybold agreed to back to the congressman within five days. The War Department called upon its construction chief, General Brehon Somervell, Government officials agreed that the War Department building, officially designated Federal Office Building No 1, should be constructed across the Potomac River, in Arlington County, Virginia. Requirements for the new building were that it be no more than four stories tall, the requirements meant that, instead of rising vertically, the building would be sprawling over a large area. Possible sites for the building included the Department of Agricultures Arlington Experimental Farm, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, the site originally chosen was Arlington Farms which had a roughly pentagonal shape, so the building was planned accordingly as an irregular pentagon. Concerned that the new building could obstruct the view of Washington, D. C. from Arlington Cemetery, the building retained its pentagonal layout because a major redesign at that stage would have been costly, and Roosevelt liked the design. Freed of the constraints of the asymmetric Arlington Farms site, it was modified into a pentagon which resembled the star forts of the gunpowder age. While the project went through the process in late July 1941, Somervell selected the contractors, including John McShain, Inc. and Doyle and Russell. In addition to the Hoover Airport site and other government-owned land, construction of the Pentagon required an additional 287 acres, which were acquired at a cost of $2.2 million. The Hells Bottom neighborhood, a slum with numerous pawnshops, factories, approximately 150 homes, Later 300 acres of land were transferred to Arlington National Cemetery and to Fort Myer, leaving 280 acres for the Pentagon. Contracts totaling $31,100,000 were finalized with McShain and the contractors on September 11
7.
Richard Nixon
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Richard Milhous Nixon was an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974, when he became the only U. S. president to resign from office. He had previously served as a U. S, Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, after completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife Pat moved to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government and he subsequently served on active duty in the U. S. Navy Reserve during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950 and his pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president and he waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968, he ran for the presidency again and was elected by defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Nixon ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1973 and brought the American POWs home, and ended the military draft. His administration generally transferred power from Washington D. C. to the states and he imposed wage and price controls for a period of ninety days, enforced desegregation of Southern schools and established the Environmental Protection Agency. Nixon also presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing, which signaled the end of the moon race and he was reelected in one of the largest electoral landslides in U. S. history in 1972, when he defeated George McGovern. The year 1973 saw an Arab oil embargo, gasoline rationing, the scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9,1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he was issued a pardon by his successor, in retirement, Nixons work writing several books and undertaking of many foreign trips helped to rehabilitate his image. He suffered a stroke on April 18,1994. Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9,1913 in Yorba Linda, California and his parents were Hannah Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. His mother was a Quaker and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith, Nixons upbringing was marked by evangelical Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from alcohol, dancing, and swearing. Nixon had four brothers, Harold, Donald, Arthur, four of the five Nixon boys were named after kings who had ruled in historical or legendary England, Richard, for example, was named after Richard the Lionheart. Nixons early life was marked by hardship, and he quoted a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood, We were poor. The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the moved to Whittier
8.
Constitution Gardens
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Constitution Gardens is a park area in Washington, D. C. United States, located within the boundaries of the National Mall, the 50-acre park is bounded on the west by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on the east by 17th St NW, on the north by Constitution Avenue, and on the south by the Reflecting Pool. Constitution Gardens has a pond, which contains an island open to pedestrians. The land that became Constitution Gardens was originally submerged beneath the Potomac River and was dredged at the beginning of the 20th century by the Army Corps of Engineers. The U. S. Navy built the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings as temporary offices on the land during World War I, the buildings were demolished in 1970 due in part to lobbying by President Richard Nixon, who had served in the offices as a navy officer. President Nixon subsequently ordered that a park be established on the land and it has been a separate park unit in the National Park Service since 1982, administered under the National Capitol Parks-Central. In July 1982, the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence was dedicated on the island in the lake. On November 13 of the year, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was also dedicated within Constitution Gardens. On September 17,1986, President Ronald Reagan formally proclaimed the park a living tribute to the United States Constitution. From March 17 to March 19,2003, Constitution Gardens was the site of a standoff between federal police and a disgruntled tobacco farmer, Dwight Watson. During the standoff, Watson dug up part of the island and damaged a retaining wall, as home to famous monuments, Constitution Gardens continues to have millions of visitors every year. It is also the site of an annual ceremony for new U. S. citizens hosted by the National Park Service. ”Meandering paths would traverse meadows shaded by tree canopy. Construction budgets were reduced from $14M to $6. 7M, in 1984, the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence was completed and placed on an island in Constitution Gardens Lake. It was designed by EDAW, with Joe Brown, FASLA, the low-key design features a granite semi-circle with gold signatures of the Founding Fathers, organized by the original thirteen states. After an intense and highly publicized competition, the Trust for the National Mall has announced the three winning teams selected to redesign the neglected sites of America’s front yard. As reported by the Washington Post, Rogers Marvel Architects and PWP Landscape Architecture will redesign Constitution Gardens east of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, http, //www. nps. gov/coga/historyculture/index. htm Constitution Gardens, National Park Service Trust for the National Mall, Constitution Gardens
9.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a 2-acre national memorial in Washington, DC. Its construction and related issues have been the source of controversies, the main part of the memorial, which was completed in 1982, is in Constitution Gardens adjacent to the National Mall, just northeast of the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial is maintained by the U. S. National Park Service, the Memorial Wall was designed by American architect Maya Lin. In 2007, it was ranked tenth on the List of Americas Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects, as a National Memorial, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Memorial Wall is made up of two 246 feet 9 inches long gabbro walls, etched with the names of the servicemen being honored in panels of horizontal rows with regular typeface, the walls are sunken into the ground, with the earth behind them. At the highest tip, they are 10.1 feet high, symbolically, this is described as a wound that is closed and healing. When a visitor looks upon the wall, his or her reflection can be seen simultaneously with the engraved names, one wall points toward the Washington Monument, the other in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial, meeting at an angle of 125° 12′. Each wall has 72 panels,70 listing names and 2 very small blank panels at the extremities, there is a pathway along the base of the Wall where visitors may walk. The wall originally listed 58,191 names when it was completed in 1983, as of May 2016, there are now exactly 58,315 names, approximately 1,200 of these are listed as missing. Directories containing all names are located on nearby podiums at both ends of the monument where visitors may locate specific names, on the walls are the names of servicemen classified as KIA, or MIA when the walls were constructed. The names are inscribed in Optima typeface, information about rank, unit, and decorations is not given. Those who died in action are denoted by a diamond, those who were missing are denoted with a cross, when the death of one who was previously missing is confirmed, a diamond is superimposed over the cross. If the missing were to return alive, which has never occurred to date, a short distance away from the wall is another Vietnam memorial, a bronze statue named The Three Servicemen. The statue depicts three soldiers, purposefully identifiable as European American, African American, and Hispanic American, in their final arrangement, the statue and the Wall appear to interact with each other, with the soldiers looking on in solemn tribute at the names of their fallen comrades. The distance between the two them to interact while minimizing the effect of the addition on Lins design. The Vietnam Womens Memorial is a dedicated to the women of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. It serves as a reminder of the importance of women in the conflict and it depicts three uniformed women with a wounded soldier. It is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and is located on National Mall in Washington D. C. a short distance south of The Wall, a memorial plaque, authorized by Pub. L
10.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work also influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
