(CNN) –– These are some of the facts about the United States Capitol. It is located at 100 Constitution Avenue NW in the city of Washington and is where the United States Congress meets.
General information about the Capitol
During US history, the Capitol has been burned, rebuilt, expanded, and restored.
The Capitol Police is charged with protecting members of Congress, employees, visitors, as well as all facilities.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have a sergeant-in-arms who serves as the first officer of the military and protocol armed forces.
The Office of Security Programs manages security operations and supports the United States Capitol Police.
All visitors entering the Capitol must be examined with a magnetometer, while their belongings are checked by an X-ray machine.
The Capitol
The Capitol has more than 540 rooms and 658 windows.
Built between 1855 and 1866, the dome 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. This space showcases paintings and sculptures of important people and events in American history. Presidents and prominent citizens also rest in this room.
The National Statue Hall used to house the office of the House of Representatives, the Old Hall of the House (1809-1857). The hall houses 100 statues from the Capitol’s collection of prominent civilian figures in US history, two per state.
The Brumidi Corridors are named after the artist who designed the murals they adorn, Constantino Brumidi.
Visiting areas on the ground floor include the Colonnade, Brumidi Corridors, the old Supreme Court chamber and the crypt (here are historical exhibits).
The Senate’s chambers are now in the north wing. Meanwhile, the offices of the House of Representatives and the offices of the leaders of Congress are located in the south wing.
The third floor has visitor areas from which conference meetings can be followed.
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 foundation stone.
1800 –– Congress moves from Philadelphia to the new Capitol Building in Washington. At that point, only the north wing has been completed.
1801 –– The Supreme Court meets for the first time on Capitol Hill.
1814 –– British troops burn down the Capitol.
1819 –– The Supreme Court, Senate and House of Representatives meet in the recently rebuilt halls of the Capitol.
1829 –– The reconstruction of the building has been completed.
1851 –– US President Millard Fillmore appoints Thomas U. Walter as the chief architect to build extensions to the Capitol.
1857 –– The House of Representatives has its first session in its new chamber.
1859 –– The Senate holds its first session in its new chamber.
1863 –– The Statue of Liberty is located on the dome.
1870 –– The exterior of the Capitol expansions is complete.
1890-1900 Electric lighting has been installed throughout the building and the surrounding area.
1897 –– The Library of Congress moves to the first building (later called 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 being redesigned and refurbished.
March 1, 1954 –– Five members of the House of Representatives are shot in plenary: 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 caused changes in the security measures in the Capitol.
1958-1962 The east facade of the Capitol will be enlarged.
July 24, 1998 –– Gunman Russell Eugene Weston Jr. shoot at the Capitol. Two local police officers are killed: Jacob Chestnut, an 18-year-old veteran, and Detective John Gibson, an eight-year veteran. Angela Dickerson was injured in the attack.
December 2, 2008 –– The newest addition to the Capitol, the Visitor Center, opens. The site is nearly three-quarters the size of the Capitol and is located underground. It will be the main entrance and security checkpoint for the Capitol.
April 24, 2009 –– The Capitol is briefly evacuated and the White House is temporarily closed because a single-engine plane accidentally enters Washington’s restricted airspace.
November 2013 The AOC office announces the start of the Capitol Dome Restoration Project. The measure will expire in November 2016.
January 14, 2015 –– FBI agents arrest 20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell before he could carry out his plan to attack the United States Capitol during the State of the Union address. According to a charge filed by an FBI agent, the plan was to detonate homemade bombs so that lawmakers and workers would flee in panic, then bombard them with an assault rifle as they passed Cornell and a police officer. Accomplice. Cornell then pleaded guilty to three federal charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
April 15, 2015 –– Douglas Hughes, a 62-year-old Florida resident, flew an undetected gyrocopter through restricted airspace and landed on the Capitol’s West Lawn. Later, Hughes pleads guilty to operating as a pilot without being certified and is sentenced to 120 days in prison.
March 28, 2016 –– Capitol Police shoots Larry Russell Dawson, 67, of Tennessee, after retrieving a gun from the Capitol Visitor Center. Dawson then pleads guilty to one count of federal assaults, preventing or resisting officers while carrying a dangerous or lethal weapon, and sentenced to 11 months in prison.
June 18, 2020 –– House Speaker Nancy Pelosi orders four portraits of Presidents of the Confederate House to be removed from the Capitol.
January 6, 2021 –– Agitators in favor of President Donald Trump break into the United States Capitol as members of Congress gather to certify the Electoral College’s results on the 2020 presidential election. The building is closed and the floor of the House of Representatives. Vice President Mike Pence, who oversees voting on the electoral college results, is also being evacuated. In total, five people die. Among them, a Capitol Police officer the next day. More than 50 people are arrested. Then calls for Trump to be removed from office, either by impeachment or through the 25th Amendment.