US Capitol
Features
The Capitol houses a variety of works of art, including the National Statuary Hall Collection comprising statues donated by the fifty states to honor persons notable in their histories.
Under the Rotunda there is an area known as the Crypt. It was designed to look down on the final resting place of George Washington in the tomb below. At the request of his wife, Martha, however, Washington was buried at Mount Vernon, and as such the area remains open to visitors. The Crypt now houses exhibits on the history of the Capitol. A star inlaid in the floor marks the exact center of Washington D.C.'s four quadrants. Eleven other presidents have lain in state in the Rotunda for public viewing, most recently Gerald Ford. The tomb meant for Washington now stores the catafalque which is used to support caskets lying in state or honor in the Capitol. After the Capitol Visitors Center is completed, the catafalque will be on display for the general public to see when not in use.
Up to four US flags can be seen flying over the Capitol. Two flagpoles are at the base of the dome on the East and West front. These flagpoles have flown the flag day and night since World War I. The other two flagpoles are above the North and South wings of the building and fly only when the chamber below is in session. Several auxiliary flagpoles, to the west of the dome and invisible from the ground, are used to meet Members' requests for flags flown over the Capitol. Constituents of Members of Congress pay to have a US flag flown over The Capitol for a short time to commemorate a variety of events (death of a veteran family member, birthdays, etc.).
In the basement of the Capitol building in a utility room are two marble bathtubs, which are all that remain of the once elaborate Senate baths. These baths were a spa-like facility designed for members of Congress and their guests before many buildings in the city had modern plumbing. The facilities included several bathtubs, a barbershop, and a massage parlor
Major events
The United States Capitol, as well as the grounds of Capitol Hill, have played host to major events. Every year since 1990, people gather on the west lawn on the Sunday before Memorial Day for the National Memorial Day Concert, broadcast on PBS.
Every July 4, people gather on Capitol Hill to celebrate Independence Day.
Among the major events the United States Capitol has hosted:
• Presidential inaugurations
• Americans lying in state. Among them:
• Senator Henry Clay (1852), the first person to lie in State at the Capitol.
• President Abraham Lincoln (1865)
• President James Garfield (1881)
• President William McKinley (1901)
• President Warren Harding (1923)
• President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft (1930)
• President John F. Kennedy (1963)
• General Douglas MacArthur (1964)
• President Herbert Hoover (1964)
• President Dwight Eisenhower (1969)
• Senator Everett Dirksen (1969)
• Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover (1972)
• President Lyndon Johnson (1973)
• Vice-President Hubert Humphrey (1978)
• President Ronald Reagan (2004)
• President Gerald Ford (2006-07)
• Americans lying in honor:
• Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson (1998), the two officers killed in the 1998 shooting incident (Chestnut was the first African American ever to lie in honor in the Capitol)
• Civil rights icon Rosa Parks: the first woman and second African American to lie in honor in the Capitol (2005).
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