Monuments

On July 16, 1790, the District of Columbia was established with George Washington’s signing of the Residence Act.

Pedro Francisco, also known as the “Virginia Giant,” the “Giant of the Revolution,” and the “Virginia Hercules,” was born on July 9, 1760, in Porto Judeu, Terceira, Portugal.

On June 8, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, giving him and future presidents the authority to create national monuments from federal lands.

On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law.

Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens was born on March 1, 1848, in Dublin, Ireland. 

On December 2, 1863, the Statue of Freedom was placed atop the US Capitol to a 35-gun salute. The ceremony was held in the midst of the Civil War – President Lincoln had insisted the Capitol be completed as a symbol of American unity.

On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act.  The act protected 9 million acres from development and created the National Wilderness Preservation System that consists of more than 111 million acres today.

On September 10, 1813, Oliver Hazard Perry won an important War of 1812 victory on Lake Erie.

On July 16, 1790, the District of Columbia was established with George Washington’s signing of the Residence Act.