What You Don't Know About the Washington Monument

This national icon sat abandoned for decades.

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[ericwright]

Surprised it wasn't mentioned, the builders wanted cap at the top to be a super precious metal. At the time aluminum was difficult to extract and purify, and very expensive per weight. It was much more precious than even gold at the time.

[robert]

I wish you had mentioned how each State is represented in the monument with a memorial stone carved from local material.

[tarajohnson]

I’ve lived here in DC metro most of my life. The mall is beautiful to walk at night. The lights and monuments are so lovely.

The earthquake caused significant damage and repairs ran around 36 months to complete, plus they upgraded the elevators & added a security screening facility.

A $7.5 million gift from private equity mogul & philanthropist David M. Rubenstein was matched by Congress for the repairs and upgrades.

Thank you Mr Rubenstein ❤

[mattwoodard]

Kinda of surprised they didn't mention the "capstone" at the very top is solid piece aluminum. Now aluminum is cheap today, but back then it was expensive. sm

[coloradohikertrash]

"The forest fell swiftly, As the lumberjack swung.

Except for the Special Tree, Which could not be stung.

She missed her friends, And the hymns they sung.

So she started a tune, That broke the man's lung."

[switcher__productions]

I went to DC last week and saw the monument myself.

It has such a wonderful singing voice

[COPPETsan]

I was there a few weeks ago for work and was fortunate enough to have some time to explore downtown. Out of all the places I have been to in the states, DC easily exceeded my expectations. Much of downtown is walkable, a lot of trees and parks surrounding the area, plenty of cafes and restaurants surround the wide pavements and marinas near the river.

[timmmahhhh]

Another fact is that if you look at the monument's positioning it is off axis a little east on the north south axis created by the White House and Jefferson Memorial, yet aligned on east-west axis with the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial. This again was because of bad soils at the desired location.

[TheLiamster]

I love Washington DC but I do wish the McMillan plan was fully built

[MrAsianPie]

4:40 I actually remember that, we had some tremors down here in Southern Virginia too

[jameslarkin]

Grew up in the dc area and always love look across the river to see the big pencil

[davecool]

Here’s me learning that it’s not just solid the whole way through. 😲

[AlexanderArceo]

Surprised you didn’t mention that they added those extra concrete slabs because the monument was sinking. It was situated on loose swampy soil, another fun fact is that the monument was suppose to be centered with the Capital, the White House and the Lincoln monument but had to be shifted about 300 ft because of the soil. You can see this on a map

[brainysmurf]

Going in the elevator on the way down, they let you see some of the commemorative stones and where the stones change. It was super cool

[amshermansen]

Nothing says America like... an Egyptian Obelisk.

[seav]

Glad to see a video about an iconic American monument described using the metric system!

[NoOctopuss]

Always noticed the color difference, never thought much about it. Thanks for the video!

[Sashazur]

I think this video wins for comments that start with variations on “you also should have mentioned that…”

[Supt]

I have visited this site several times. And now I know the story behind the iconic tower. Thanks B1M !

[michaelharrison]

I am so proud of the Washington Monument!
Went there years and years ago. They had a really great portrait of George Washington inside, at the ground floor near the elevator.
🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️❤️!!