The words “capitol” and “capital” are often confused. “Capital” is the city from which a country is governed. “Capitol” is the building that typically contains the legislative branch of the government. The word “capitol” is derived from the capitol of the Roman republic, and therefore is often used by countries which are republics, such as the United States, but is not normally used by countries which are parliamentary monarchies, such as Canada and Australia, which use terms such as “parliament” or “parliament house” to describe the building which houses the legislative branch of government.
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Of the three buildings the above link lists as being taller than the Capitol, the Old Post Office was built before the height restrictions went into effect.
As for the Basilica and National Cathedral, note the below, taken from Wikipedia:
The height of buildings in Washington is limited by the Height of Buildings Act. The original Act was passed by Congress in 1899 in response to the 1894 construction of the Cairo Hotel, which is much taller than the majority of buildings in the city. The original act restricted the heights of any type of building in the United States capital city of Washington, D.C., to be no higher than 110 feet (34 m), 90 feet (27 m) for residential buildings. In 1910, the 61st United States Congress enacted a new law which raised the overall building height limit to 130 feet (40 m), but restricted building heights to the width of the adjacent street or avenue plus 20 feet (6.1 m); thus, a building facing a 90-foot (27 m)-wide street could be only 110 feet (34 m) tall.[5] However, building heights are measured from the sidewalk or curb to the edge of the roof. Architectural embellishments, mechanical rooms, and common rooftop structures may be exempted from the overall height limit, provided they are setback from the roof line.[6][7] The heights of buildings listed here may therefore exceed the general height limit as measured for the purpose of the city’s zoning laws.
The Mississippi River rises in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, christened by its discoverer, Henry Schoolcraft, who combined the Latin words veritas caput |(“true head”) to form a faux Indian name.
Buck Henry and Mel Brooks created Get Smart. The opening scene of the series was prescient: it showed Smart in an audience watching a performance when his phone began ringing. A ridiculous joke back then, but an all-too-common occurrence nowadays.
Buck Henry was the most frequent guest host of the original “Saturday Night Live” on NBC. His creepy character of Uncle Roy, the babysitter, always gave the network censors fits.
The law does not say anything about the Capitol. There is no law that lists the Capitol as the benchmark. :rolleyes:
In play: Queen Elizabeth is the most frequent opener of the British Olympics: Montreal 1976 and London 2012. No one else has opened them twice.
At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, Adolf Hitler was incensed by the American team’s refusal to dip their flag to him as they marched by in the opening ceremonies. In truth, the US flag is never dipped in honor of any Earthly power.
I meant just “Olympics”. Not sure how “British” slipped in.
The Saudi Arabian flag is never lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning, because since it depicts the Islamic expression of faith, lowering it would be considered blasphemous.
The Arabic inscription on the Saudi flag translates as “There is no god but God; Muhammad is the prophet of God.” The flag must always be flown so that the inscription reads correctly on both sides.
The Saudis protested the use of their flag on a souvenir soccer ball produced for 2002 World Cup since rolling the shahada (the expression of faith) on the ground and/or kicking it with one’s feet would be disrespectful. Riots broke out in Afghanistan when American troops distributed similar balls to children as gifts.
Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weine, the Chicago 7, and Bobby Seale were all arrested for conspiracy to incite a riot on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. After being denied nearly every request to march and gather, thousands marched and protested the government’s Viet Nam war policies which resulted in violence. The Democratic president, Lyndon Johnson and his attorney general declined to prosecute saying the police were responsible for the riots. When Nixon won the election he and his attorney general decided to prosecute. Eventually all were acquitted of all but the most minor charges for which no fines or penalties were assessed.
The default settings for Microsoft’s popular “Flight Simulator” software include a takeoff from Meigs Field in downtown Chicago. Built on an island created for the legendary 1893 Columbian Exposition, the airport was suddenly and illegally destroyed by Richard Daley Jr., son of the city’s machine mayor of the 1968 riots.
There is a statue of Lincoln in Grant Park, and a statue of Grant in Lincoln Park, Chicago, but no statue of the namesake individual in their respective parks (or so I have heard).
Traditionally, Robin Hood and his Merrie Men wore clothes dyed Lincoln green.
The historical Robin Hood, if he existed, was Robyn of Locksley, Earl of Huntingdon, which is not far from modern day Cambridge and the site of a joint RAF/USAF base.*
*At least when I lived there in the '70s.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem “Locksley Hall”, generally about a soldier’s homecoming, was often quoted by early aviation-industry pioneers (including many RAF personnel) for its line from the protagonist’s dreams of the future:
*For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;
Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales;
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain’d a ghastly dew
From the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue;
Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging thro’ the thunder-storm;
Till the war-drum throbb’d no longer, and the battle-flags were furl’d
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world*
Alfred Pennyworth was the full name of Batman’s butler in the TV series. He was played by Alan Napier who was a cousin of Neville Chamberlain (Prime Minister of Britain 1937-40)
Benjamin Butler was a general and politician in Civil War America. As military governor of New Orleans during the war, he got the nickname “Beast” because of his treatment of civilians, notably when he declared any women who were disrespectful of Union soldiers would be treated like prostitutes. After the war, he was in Congress and led the prosecution during Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial.
Benjamin Butler’s other nickname was “Spoons” Butler, from the allegation that he stole silver spoons from Confederate homes where he billetted.
No connexion to our Spoons, of course!