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Jerry Seinfeld and Ron Howard

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
Legendary funnyman Jerry Seinfeld’s Oscar broadcast review is in – and he thinks the show was a hit.

“That was the greatest Oscar opening dialogue… that I’ve seen since I don’t know when,” Jerry told Billy Bush for Access Hollywood and “The Billy Bush Show” on Tuesday.

“Really?” Billy asked.

read more

Robert De Niro

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
Robert De Niro is ready to take the field with ESPN.

The iconic actor has been tapped to play legendary football coach Vince Lombardi in a biopic being developed by ESPN Films and the NFL, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film, simply titled “Lombardi,” is being written by “Forrest Gump” scribe Eric Roth.
read more

Elton John and Betty White

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Miley Cyrus and Simon Cowell were among the celebrity guest who stepped out for Elton John’s 18th annual AIDS Foundation Oscar party on Sunday night, but one guest was more special than the others – Betty White.

“Betty White is my Guest of Honor,” Elton told Access Hollywood before his big event held in West Hollywood. “I want to meet a legend and she is a legend!”

And the Brit even had a special place at his party for the Hollywood superstar.
read more

Barrack and Michelle Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama has given away the glamorous gown she wore last year to a number of balls commemorating President Barack Obama's inauguration.
Mrs. Obama donated her one-shouldered, white dress by Jason Wu to the Smithsonian Institute. The gown will be displayed at the National Museum of American History as part of an exhibit showcasing gowns worn by first ladies from Mamie Eisenhower to Mrs. Obama.
"I am very honored and very humbled, but I have to say that I'm also a little embarrassed by all the fuss being made over my dress," the First Lady said while presenting her gown to the museum on Tuesday. "Like many of you, I'm not used to people wanting to put things I've worn on display."
read more

David Letterman

David Letterman is speaking out following Tuesday's news that Robert Halderman has pleaded guilty of attempted grand larceny.
"I would like to thank the District Attorney of Manhattan, Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., the former District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, the Special Prosecutions Bureau in the D.A.'s Office, and the New York City Police Department," Letterman told ET. "When they became involved with this case, I had complete faith that a just and appropriate result was inevitable. On behalf of my family, I am extremely grateful for their tireless efforts."

Farrah Fawcett

Actress Farrah Fawcett was not included in the Oscars In Memoriam segment because she was better known as a TV star, the Academy has said.
Fawcett's family said on Tuesday they were "deeply saddened" and "bereft" over her omission from the ceremony.
But the academy said as the star was known for her "remarkable television work", it would be more appropriate to honour her at the Emmy Awards.
Charlie's Angels star Fawcett died of cancer in June last year. read more

Getting around Washington, DC

METRORAIL

Almost every sight worth seeing in DC can be reached by Metrorail, the city's clean, often-efficient subway system. There are five color-coded lines, and each train's direction is determined by its destination. For example, an Orange Line train to Vienna is traveling west, while those heading for New Carrolton are going east. Large digital screens on the platform display the time until the next train arrives, and lights flash on the edge of the platform when a train is approaching the station. read more

Copied dozens of times in smaller state capitols across the country, the U.S. Capitol is the real thing. Inside this 19th century neoclassical complex the Senate and the House of Representatives create the laws that govern the nation. Like many other buildings in Washington, DC -- and in capitals around the world -- the U.S. Capitol is based on ancient Greek and Roman designs, as much of our culture, law, and language is. The south wing of the building contains the chambers of the House of Representatives. The north wing is home to the Senate. They meet at the Rotunda, under a grand dome, famed for its odd acoustics and less-so for its 108 windows. The dome is 180 feet three inches tall and 96 feet wide on the inside. On the outside, it is topped by the Statue of Freedom. Beneath the dome is the National Statuary Hall, which contains some of the nation's most important paintings and sculptures of significant historic figures. Above, the dome is decorated with a fresco called "The Apotheosis of Washington" by Constantino Brumidi. Before this was an open area for public gathering and formal ceremonies, it once served as the chamber of the House.

Before then, it was just a wooden passageway. Construction of the capitol was perpetually behind schedule, and no part of the building was completed before it was occupied by various government offices. By 1813 there was a north wing and a south wing, but not much else except the aforementioned wooden passageway. The architect at the time left town proclaiming the capitol, "a most magnificent ruin." The British thought it needed to be ruined a little more, and tried to burn the place down in 1814. Damage was sufficient that congress had to relocate to a hotel, and then a temporary building now known as the "Old Brick Capitol." This wasn't the first catastrophe to befall the building. In 1898 a gas explosion and fire ripped through the north wing.
The Capitol sits 88 feet above the Potomac River level on 120.2 acres of land formerly part of the state of Maryland. Daniel Carroll of Duddington was paid £25 an acre for the land. Before it was Maryland, the District of Columbia was part of the territory of the Manahoacs and Monacans subtribes of the Algonquin indians.

The Capitol building has been through a number of architects for a number of reasons. Politics, money, and the simple passage of time caused many men's great ambitions and dreams to come into vogue then fade as political fortunes changed. The first major expansion of the capitol was planned in 1850 because the addition of new states meant new senators, representatives, and their staffs. Thomas U. Walter was charged with the project, and he undertook the task of expanding the north and south wings and replacing the original 1824 wood and copper dome with one made of cast iron. This dome had the advantage of being fireproof, but the disadvantage of weighing 8,909,200 pounds. It is supported by 5,214,000 pounds of masonry on top of the Rotunda walls. The wood from the old dome was burned to power steam derricks to lift the new dome. The new dome had to be redesigned when the Statue of Freedom arrived from Rome. Instead of being 16 feet nine inches tall, it was 19 feet six inches tall. The platform it sits on had to be widened and the overall dome height reduced from 300 feet to 287 feet.

Walter's workload increased further in 1851 when a fire gutted the portion of the building housing the Library of Congress. Other difficulties also stood in his way. The building's original sandstone had deteriorated significantly. So for his restoration, he went with marble from Maryland and Massachusetts.

• The ghost of a worker killed when he fell from the dome while building the Capitol has been reported floating around the rotunda carrying a tray of tools.
• The ghost of a worker sealed alive into the walls of the Capitol has been reported in the Senate chamber.
• On one occasion, a guard reported that the statues in the rotunda came to life and moved around the room.
• The sighting of the spirit of a black cat in the basement has been known to precede national tragedies like assasinations and stock market crashes. The same things is said of a spirit cat in the basement of the White House. It is unknown if this is the same phantom, or a confusion of the tales.
• The ghost of a soldier has been seen in the rotunda. He salutes, then vanishes.
• The mural under the capitol dome is called The Apotheosis of Washington.
• The cornerstone of the Capitol was laid 18 September, 1793 by President George Washington.
• Running water was installed in 1832.
• Gas lights were installed in the 1840s.
• Electric lights were installed in the 1880s.
• The first elevator was installed in 1874.
• The ceilings of the House and Senate chambers are stainless steel covered with plaster.
• Before there was a capitol in Washington, DC, congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; York, Pennsylvania; Princeton, New Jersey; Annapolis, Maryland; Trenton, New Jersey; and New York, New York.
• During the Civil War, the Capitol building was used as a military barracks, a hospital, and a bakery.
• The capitol is 751 feet, four inches long and 350 feet wide.
• It is 288 feet tall.
• There are 540 rooms with 658 windows and 850 doorways.
• During renovation in the 1980s more than 30 layers of paint had to be removed.
• Flags have flown over the eastern and western fronts of the building 24 hours a day since World War I.
• The Statue of Freedom is located at precisely 38' 53" 23.31098 N x 77' 00" 32.62262 W.
• The Capitol grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York's Central Park.
• There are more than one hundred types of plants on the Capitol grounds.
• More than 30 states have sent ceremonial trees to be planted there.
• 7,837 plants were planted in the first major organization of the Capitol grounds. Many were stolen, vandalized, or eaten by roaming cattle.

• 1969: Guards are posted at the capitol for the first time.
• June, 2001: A 140-year-old mystery has been solved. William D. Mohr has managed to decode the journal of Captain Montgomery C. Meigs, an Army engineer who chronicled the political battles behind the construction and expansion of the U.S. Capitol. Meigs kept his notes in Pitman shorthand, which fell out of favor not long after. Until now modern scholars have been unable to read the notes because there is no one left who can read Pitman shorthand. Mohr's translation will be published by the Government Printing office.
• September 11, 2001: The Capitol is closed to the public when terrorists attack the Pentagon.
• October 15, 2001: Tours of the capitol are suspended after an anthrax-laden letter shows up in a Senator's office. Several people are infected.
• December 8, 2001: Tours of the U.S. Capitol have resumed. They were suspended in September, 2001 after the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, but the House and Senate Galleries remained open. Security has been tightened and only guided tours are permitted. Gone are the days when a long-haired teen with a backpack and a disc camera could wander the halls for hours and marvel at the institution, as some of our staffers did in their youth. Among the items that are verboten: backpacks; along with cans, bottles, and any kind of sprays from mace to Redi-Whip to fix-a-flat.
• December 27, 2001: In a show of sympathy and solidarity, the United States Congress plans to convene in New York City in 2001. The last congressional held in New York was from 1789 to 1790 when New York was still the capitol of the nation. It’s the first time congress has left the Capitol in Washington, DC since the British burned it down during the War of 1812.
• March 21, 2003: Tours of the U.S. Capitol are suspended because of the war in Iraq.
• April 25, 2003: Tours of the U.S. Capitol resume.

The White House, one of the most recognizable buildings in Washington, DC, was designed by James Hoban, an Irish-born and-trained architect who won a competition organized by President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson in 1792. The competitions were held to determine who would design the nation's two most important buildings, the President's House and the Capitol. It is believed that Jefferson, competing under a pseudonym, submitted designs and lost both competitions. Hoban's inspiration for the house was drawn from an Anglo-Irish villa called the Leinster House in Dublin. Although President Washington oversaw construction, he never lived in the house. President John Adams, elected in 1796 as the second President, was the first resident of the White House. Abigail Adams, President Adams' wife, was known to have complained about the largely unfinished new residence. President Thomas Jefferson, upon moving to the house in 1801, was also not impressed, and dismissed the house as being too big. Jefferson made several structural changes under architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe such as the addition of terrace-pavilions on either side of the main building and single-story wings for storage. In addition to replacing the slate roof with one of sheet iron, Jefferson further improved the grounds by landscaping them in a picturesque manner. While James Madison was President from 1809 to 1817, the White House was torched by the British in the War of 1812. Although the fire was put out by a summer thunderstorm, all that remained were the outside, charred walls and the interior brick walls. Madison brought Hoban back to restore the mansion, which took three years. It was during this construction that the house was painted white. Hoban later added the South and North Porticos, using a slightly altered design by Latrobe.

Expansion and further alterations were made when President Theodore Roosevelt declared the house unsafe to inhabit. He had the original building remodeled. By making the third-story attic into habitable rooms and adding the Executive Office wing and the East Gallery, Roosevelt separated his work space from his family life. In 1909, architect Nathan C. Wyeth extended the office wing adding the well-known oval office. Although used informally for some time, it was President Theodore Roosevelt who gave the White House its official name. Finally, the last major renovation took place when President Harry Truman decided that again the building was unsafe and had to be gutted. Steel replaced the original frame and paneling, and a balcony was added to the South Portico. The White House, an architectural symbol of the American presidency and the nation's power, remains a stylistically simple residence and an example of the stolid republican ideals of the Founding Fathers.

The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Tours of the White House are currently limited to parties of 10 or more people, requested through one’s Member of Congress and will be accepted up to six months in advance. These self-guided group tours will be scheduled approximately one month before the requested date, from 7:30am to 11:30am Tuesday-Saturday, excluding Federal holidays. For the most current tour information, please call the 24-hour line at 202-456-7041. The National Park Service operates the White House Visitor Center, located at 15th and E Sts., NW, open daily from 7:30am until 4:00pm. Metro stop: McPherson Square

* The White House, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Capitol, and related buildings and grounds are legally exempted from listing in the National Register of Historic Places, according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

History of the Washington Monument

The construction of a monument to honor George Washington was first considered by the Continental Congress in 1783. At the time of his death, and during the next three decades, Congress neglected to take definite action on many additional proposals for the erection of a suitable memorial. In 1833, the Washington National Monument Society was organized by influential citizens of the National Capital who undertook the building of a "great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government."
The progress of the society was slow at first. By 1847, however, $87,000 (including interest) had been collected by popular subscription. A design submitted by Robert Mills, a well-known architect, was selected. It provided for a decorated obelisk 600 feet high which was to rise from a circular colonnaded building 100 feet high and 250 feet in diameter. This temple was to be an American pantheon, a repository for statues of Presidents and national heroes, containing a colossal statue of George Washington.

The original design, however, was greatly altered in the course of construction and the present monument - a hollow shaft without decoration or embellishment - has little in common with Mills' elaborate plan. The proportions of Mills' shaft, which were at variance with traditional dimensions of obelisks, were altered to conform to the classical conception, thus producing an obelisk that for grace and delicacy of outline is unexcelled by any in Egypt.

On July 4, 1848, the cornerstone was laid with elaborate Masonic ceremonies. The trowel used by Washington at the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1793 was used on this occasion.

Work progressed favorably until 1854, when the building of the monument became involved in a political quarrel. Many citizens became dissatisfied with the work and the collection of funds lagged. This unfortunate affair and the growing antagonism between the North and South, which resulted in the Civil War, brought construction to a halt. For almost 25 years, the monument stood incomplete at the height of about 150 feet. Finally on August 2, 1876, President Grant approved an act which provided that the Federal Government should complete the erection of the monument. The Corps of Engineers of the War Department was placed in charge of the work.

In 1880, work was resumed on the shaft. The new Maryland marble with which the remainder of the monument is faced was secured from the same vein as the original stone used for the lower part. It came from a different stratum, however, which explains the "ring" noticeable on the shaft. The walls of the memorial reached 500 feet on August 9, 1884, and the capstone was set in place on the following December 6, marking the completion of the work. The monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885, and opened to the public on October 9, 1888.

The top may be reached by elevator or by an iron stairway. The first elevator was a steam hoist, used until 1901 when the first electric elevator was installed. The present elevator, installed in 1959, makes the ascent in 70 seconds. The iron stairway consists of 50 landings and 897 steps.

Inserted into the interior walls are 188 carved stones presented by individuals, societies, cities, States, and nations of the world.

The Monument in Statistics

Total cost: $1,187,710
Height of monument above floor: 555 feet 5 1/8 inches

Width at base of shaft: 55 feet 1 1/2 inches

Width at top of shaft: 34 feet 5 1/2 inches

Thickness of walls at base of shaft: 15 feet

Thickness of walls at top of shaft: 18 inches

Depth of foundation: 36 feet 10 inches

Weight of monument: 90,854 tons

Sway of monument in 30-mile-per-hour wind: 0.125 of an inch

Tourmobile Service

The National Park Service has concessioner-operated guided tourmobiles with unlimited reboarding privileges. Call 554-5100 for rate information.
The Mall and West Potomac Park. Tourmobiles stop at 11 points to discharge and pick up passengers from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., June through Labor Day; and from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the rest of the year.

Arlington National Cemetery. Tourmobiles stop at Arlington House, President Kennedy's Gravesite, Tomb of the Unknowns, and the visitor center from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., April to October; and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., November to March.

Administration

The Washington Monument is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. It is open 7 days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Extended summer hours are 8 a.m. to midnight. The monument is closed on December 25. Address all inquiries to the Mall Operations Office, 1100 Ohio Drive SW, Washington D.C. 20242.
As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has basic responsibilities for water, fish, wildlife, mineral, land, park, and recreational resources. Indian and Territorial affairs are other major concerns of America's "Department of Natural Resources." The Department works to assure the wisest choice in managing all our resources so each will make its full contribution to a better United States - now and in the future.

The Lincoln Memorial suits its surroundings so well that it seems to have always been there. The city's master designer, Pierre L' Enfant, could hardly have imagined a better architectural anchor to the west end of the Mall, the grassy area he visualized between the Capitol Building and the Potomac River.

Behind the memorial to the west lies Arlington National Cemetery and the stately Lee-Custis Mansion; to the east you see the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill. The massive sculpture of Lincoln faces east toward a long reflecting pool. The peaceful atmosphere belies the years of disagreement over what kind of monument to build and where.

Help from Lincoln's Friends

In 1910 two members of Congress joined forces to create a memorial which honored Lincoln. Shelby M. Cullom and Joseph G. Cannon, who had known Lincoln in Illinois, pushed through a Lincoln Memorial bill which President Taft signed on February 11, 1911. The bill created the Lincoln Memorial Commission to oversee the project and set aside $2 million in funds. The final cost, however, was $3 million.

Before the commission completed plans to build in what was known as the Potomac Flats, it considered various locations and memorial ideas which ranged from a highway to a huge pyramid. John Hay, one of Lincoln's White House secretaries, promoted the Potomac location, saying that the monument should stand alone, distinguished, and serene.

The Building

On Memorial Day, May 30, 1922, the building was dedicated, 57 years after Lincoln died. About 50,000 people attended the ceremonies, including hundreds of Civil War veterans and Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's only surviving son. The main speakers were President Warren Harding, former President William Howard Taft, and Dr. Robert Moton, principal of the Tuskegee Institute, who delivered the keynote address.

New York architect Henry Bacon modeled the memorial in the style of a Greek temple. The classic design features 36 Doric columns outside, symbolizing the states in the Union at Lincoln's death. The building measures 204 feet long, 134 feet wide, and 99 feet tall, with 44-foot columns. It blends stone from various states: white Colorado marble for the exterior, Indiana limestone for the interior walls, pink Tennessee marble for the floor, and Alabama marble for the ceiling.

© Abraham Lincoln Online   

The Statue

Daniel Chester French, the leading American sculptor of the day, created the famous statue of Lincoln which dominates the interior. The memorial plans originally specified a 12-foot bronze statue, but it proved out of scale for the huge building. The finished statue is 19 feet tall, carved of 28 blocks of white Georgia marble. French later had special lighting installed to enhance the figure. Visitors sometimes ask if the hands have special significance (such as forming the letter "A" in sign language), but there is no indication French intended it.

The Jefferson Memorial is located in West Potomac Park on the South Bank of the Tidal Basin near Downtown Washington D.C. The Memorial is dedicated to our third President, Thomas Jefferson, who is known for his contributions to the Declaration of Independence and help in negotiating the Louisiana Purchase.

The site for the Jefferson Memorial was selected in 1937 and designed by John Russel Pope whose design reflected Thomas Jefferson’s own neoclassical style. Both the exterior and interior walls and floors are made of marble. The interior has a 19 foot bronze statue of Jefferson by Rudulph Evans along with passages from Thomas Jefferson’s personal writings engraved on the walls. The Memorial was completed in 1943 and dedicated on April 13, 1943. The total cost for the construction of the Jefferson Memorial was a little over 3 million dollars.

The Memorial is open daily from 8:00am to 11:45pm with the only closure being on December 25.

The Vietnam Memorial was created with 3 separate parts that include The Wall itself, the Three Soldiers Statue which purposefully depicts a White American, Black American and Hispanic soldier, and the Vietnam Woman’s Memorial dedicated to the women who served during the war mainly as nurses. The main part was completed in 1982 and is located in the Constitution Gardens. The wall was designed by Maya Ying Lin and is made of two black granite walls that are 246 feet long and stand 10 feet high. Each wall has 72 panels with 70 listing names. Each year the Vietnam Memorial has around 3 million visitors.

On February 23, 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima, Joe Rosenthal took a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph called the “Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima”. This Memorial depicts bronze statues of United States Marines raising the American Flag atop Mount Suribachi. The 108-piece statue took 3 years to complete and its $850,000 price tag was paid in full by donations. On June 12, 1961, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed that an American flag should fly 24 hours a day on the statues 60 foot flagpole. The Iwo Jima Memorial is dedicated to the 6,841 men who died during the battle.