Today is the anniversary of the first meeting of the U.S. Congress in the new capitol of Washington, D.C.
President George Washington laid the cornerstone for the new center of government in 1793, but elected officials didn’t meet in Washington, D.C. until this fall day in 1800.
They were in a hurry to leave Philadelphia, where malaria and cholera were making even the most eloquent statesmen say, “’tis a bummer, indeed.”
The design for the capitol is attributed to Pierre Charles L’Enfant. You can read more about him here and here and here.
From the Who2 blog:
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