United States Capitol: Key Facts You Should Know

(CNN) ––

  These are some facts about the United States Capitol.

It is located at 100 Constitution Avenue NW in the city of Washington and is the place where the United States Congress meets.

General information about the United States Capitol

During US history the Capitol has been burned, rebuilt, expanded, and restored.

The Capitol Police are charged with protecting members of Congress, employees, visitors, and also all facilities.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have a sergeant-in-arms who acts as the chief officer of the military and protocol forces.

The Office of Security Programs manages security operations and supports the United States Capitol Police.

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All visitors entering the Capitol must be examined with a magnetometer, while their belongings are checked in an X-ray machine.

The capitol building

The Capitol building has more than 540 rooms and 658 windows.

The dome, built between 1855 and 1866, has more than 4,000 tons of cast iron and 108 windows.

The figure at the top of the dome is the Statue of Liberty.

The Rotunda has a height of 54.86 meters and a diameter of 29.2 meters.

Paintings and sculptures depicting significant people and events in United States history are exhibited in this space.

Presidents and distinguished citizens also rest in this room.

The National Hall of Statues used to house the office of the House of Representatives, called the Old Hall of the House (1809-1857).

The hall houses 100 statues from the Capitol's collection of prominent figures of citizens in US history, two per state.

The Brumidi Corridors are named after the artist who designed the murals that adorn them, Constantino Brumidi.

Visiting areas on the ground floor include the Hall of Columns, Brumidi Corridors, the Old Chamber of the Supreme Court and the Crypt (historical exhibits are featured here).

The Senate chambers are now in the north wing.

Meanwhile, the offices of the House of Representatives and the offices of the leaders of Congress are in the south wing.

The third floor has visitor areas from which congressional proceedings can be observed.

The Capitol Complex includes the Capitol itself, the Capitol Visitor Center, the Senate office buildings, the office buildings of the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the United States Botanical Garden and the Capitol campus grounds.

The Capitol Complex is maintained by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC).

The first AOC was Dr. William Thornton in 1793.

Chronology

September 18, 1793 ––

US President George Washington lays the first stone.

1800 ––

Congress moves from Philadelphia to the new Capitol building in Washington.

At that time, only the north wing has been completed.

1801 ––

The Supreme Court has its first meeting on Capitol Hill.

1814 ––

British troops burn down the Capitol.

1819 ––

The Supreme Court, Senate, and House of Representatives meet in the newly rebuilt halls of the Capitol.

1829 ––

The reconstruction of the building is completed.

1851 ––

US President Millard Fillmore appoints Thomas U. Walter as the lead architect to build extensions to the Capitol.

1857 ––

The House of Representatives holds its first session in its new room.

1859 ––

The Senate holds its first session in its new room.

1863 ––

The Statue of Liberty is located on the dome.

1870 ––

The exteriors of the Capitol extensions are completed.

1890-1900

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Electric lighting is installed throughout the building and its surroundings.

1897 ––

The Library of Congress moves into its first building (later renamed the Thomas Jefferson Building).

1935 ––

The Supreme Court moves to its own building.

1949–1951 ––

The offices of the House of Representatives and the Senate are redesigned and remodeled.

March 1, 1954 ––

Five members of the House of Representatives are shot in plenary session: Alvin Bentley, Republican of Michigan;

Ben Jensen, Republican of Iowa, Clifford Davis, Democrat of Tennessee, George Fallon, Democrat of Maryland, and Kenneth Roberts, Democrat of Alabama.

Puerto Rican nationalists Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andrés Figueroa Cordero and Irving Flores Rodríguez are arrested and sent to prison.

The attackers were heard shouting "Freedom for Puerto Rico" as they fired.

This incident produced changes in security measures at the Capitol.

1958-1962

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The east façade of the Capitol was enlarged.

July 24, 1998 ––

Shooter Russell Eugene Weston Jr. shoots at the Capitol building.

Two local police officers are killed: Jacob Chestnut, an 18-year veteran, and Detective John Gibson, an eight-year veteran.

Angela Dickerson was injured during the attack.

December 2, 2008 ––

The latest addition to the Capitol, the Visitor Center, opens.

The site is almost three-quarters the size of the Capitol and is located underground.

It becomes the main entrance and security checkpoint for the Capitol.

April 24, 2009 ––

The Capitol is briefly evacuated and the White House is placed under temporary lockdown due to a single-engine plane accidentally entering Washington's restricted airspace.

November 2013

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The AOC office announces the start of the Capitol Dome Restoration Project.

The measure ends in November 2016.

January 14, 2015 ––

FBI agents arrest Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, before he could execute his plan to attack the US Capitol during the State of the Union address.

According to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent, the plan was to set off homemade bombs so that legislators and employees would flee in a panic, and then pepper them with an assault rifle as they crossed past Cornell and a police officer. accomplice.

Cornell subsequently pleaded guilty to three federal charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

April 15, 2015 ––

62-year-old Florida citizen Douglas Hughes flew an undetected gyrocopter through restricted airspace and landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

Later, Hughes pleads guilty to operating as a pilot without being certified and receives a sentence of 120 days in jail.

March 28, 2016 ––

Capitol police shoot Larry Russell Dawson, 67, of Tennessee, after he pulled out what appears to be a gun at the Capitol Visitor Center.

Dawson subsequently pleads guilty to one count of federal assault, impeding or resisting officers while carrying a dangerous or deadly weapon, and sentenced to 11 months in prison.

June 18, 2020 ––

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi orders four portraits of Confederate House presidents to be removed from the US Capitol.

January 6, 2021 ––

Pro-President Donald Trump agitators stormed the United States Capitol, as members of Congress meet to certify the Electoral College results on the 2020 presidential elections. The building is under closure and will be evacuate the floor of the House of Representatives.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is overseeing the voting of the Electoral College results, is also evacuated.

A total of five people die.

Among them an agent of the Capitol Police the next day.

More than 50 individuals are arrested.

Then, calls increase for Trump to be removed from office, either through impeachment or through the 25th Amendment.

Capitol