U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

The actual construction of the Washington monument began when the cornerstone
was laid on July 4, 1848 but it was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the death of architect Robert Mills (below). This hiatus in construction was due to a lack
of funds and the intervention of the Civil War. The monument was finally completed
when the capstone was set on December 6, 1884. It was officially dedicated on Feb. 
21, 1885 and opened to the public on October 9, 1888.

Architect Robert Mills

 
Washington monument design by Robert Mills 

Washington monument under construction, about 1860

Sen. McCarthy reads a 1954 newspaper headline that compared him with
Hitler.

Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the
state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. He was noted for making
claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and their
sympathizers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere. The
result of McCarthy’s tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led him to
be censured by the United States Senate. On December 2, 1954, the Senate
voted to censure McCarthy on both counts by a vote of 67 to 22.