This Day in History: , The Washington Monument Is Completed.
December 6, 1884.
The Washington Monument stood as the tallest man-made structure in the world at the time.
A monument to honor the nation's first president, George Washington, had been a focus of Congress since 1783.
The Washington Monument Society began raising funds for the structure in 1832.
Though fundraising efforts had fallen well short of the the $1 million budget, construction of Robert Mills' design began on July 4, 1848.
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Construction was halted in the mid- 1850s and did not begin again until 1876.
Once completed, the 555-foot-tall monument utilized more than 35,000 marble and granite bricks.
Today, 800,000 people visit the monument yearly