Washington Monument Stands: World's Tallest Obelisk
Workers placed a nine-inch aluminum capstone atop the Washington Monument, completing the world's tallest structure at 555 feet after thirty-six years of interrupted construction. The monument held its record for just five years before the Eiffel Tower surpassed it, but its white marble obelisk became the defining feature of the National Mall skyline.
December 6, 1884
142 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on December 6
Béla I ascended the Hungarian throne after defeating his brother, Andrew I, in a decisive civil war. His reign stabilized the kingdom by standardizing currency …
Batu Khan's forces crush Kiev, toppling its defenses and ending the city's status as a political center under Danylo of Halych and Voivode Dmytro. This conquest…
Christopher Columbus steps ashore on a new island after mistaking Cuba for Japan and searching for gold. He names this land Hispaniola, establishing the first p…
Sebastián de Belalcázar established the city of Quito atop the ruins of an Inca capital, securing a strategic foothold in the northern Andes for the Spanish Cro…
Two hundred and thirty-one members of Parliament arrived at Westminster that December morning. Only 154 made it inside. Colonel Thomas Pride and his musketeers …
Colonel Thomas Pride barred over 140 moderate members from the House of Commons, purging the legislature of those who favored reconciliation with Charles I. Thi…
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