NEWS · B2 Level - Part 7

Hidden Secrets of Lincoln Memorial

Did you know one of America's most famous monuments here in Washington D.C. is packed with hidden secrets?

Level: B2 · 17 sentences

Transcript

  1. Did you know one of America's most famous monuments here in Washington D.C. is packed with hidden secrets?
  2. One of the most visited landmarks in the United States, this memorial honors President Abraham Lincoln,
  3. who led the nation through the Civil War and helped end slavery in America.
  4. Construction began on February 12th, 1914 on what would have been Lincoln's 105th birthday.
  5. It took about 8 years to build.
  6. The Lincoln Memorial has 36 massive columns. Why?
  7. One for every state in the Union when Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President, was assassinated in 1865.
  8. Now, the names of all 48 states existing when the memorial opened in 1922 were added around the top.
  9. Then, a plaque for Alaska and Hawaii were added later.
  10. The giant Lincoln statue weighs 350,000 lbs, about 35 fully grown African elephants.
  11. And if Honest Abe were to stand up, he'd be nearly three stories tall.
  12. And get this, there's a typo inside to the right, first panel.
  13. Workers accidentally carved an E instead of an F in the word future,
  14. later corrected it, but if you know where to look, you can still see it today.
  15. Even national monuments need spell check.
  16. And these steps, they became the stage when Martin Luther King Jr. Gave his legendary I Have a Dream speech in 1963.
  17. A monument built for one president became a symbol for an entire nation.