The
cornerstone of the White House was laid this day in 1792. As the race
to become the next US President gathers pace, here are ten facts you
probably didn't know about where he will live.
- Although we know the date the cornerstone was laid, nobody knows exactly where it is. on 13 October 1792, a group of freemasons met at a Georgetown tavern and paraded to the proposed site of the building. With great ceremony, they placed an inscribed cornerstone to mark the start of the House’s construction. Then they went to the pub for a celebratory drink or sixteen, and forgot to document exactly where they'd put it.
- The White House has 132 rooms. There are 32 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 7 staircases, and 3 elevators. The White House has six floors—two basements, two public floors, and two floors for the President and his (or her!) Family. The White House is 55,000-square feet in area, 70-feet high, 170-feet wide, and 85-feet deep. It is situated on 18 acres of land.
- The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.
- Every president has lived there, except for George Washington, who oversaw the construction. The first president to live there was the second, John Adams.
- On August 24, 1814, British soldiers sailed up the Potomac River and set Fire to the White House. A summer thunderstorm put out the fire, but only the charred outside walls and the interior brick walls remained, and a painting of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart which Dolley Madison grabbed on her way out. It took three years to rebuild.
- The White House has been known as the "President's Palace," the "President's House," and the "Executive Mansion." It wasn't until 1901 that it was officially called The White House, thanks to President Theodore Roosevelt.
- The White House is said to receive 65,000 letters per week, 2,500-3,500 calls, 1,000 faxes and 100,000 emails per day. There are also about 6,000 visitors a day. Free tours are available to the public but anyone wanting to look around has to book a tour six months in advance.
- If it was ever put on the market, a prospective buyer would need to find between $110 million and $286 million.
- The White House has hosted two weddings. Tricia Nixon, Richard Nixon's daughter, and Edward Cox; and Anthony Rodham, Hillary Clinton's brother, and Nicole Boxer, Senator Barbara Boxer's daughter.
- New technology has been embraced by the residents of the White House, but with caution. In 1840, Martin Van Buren hired a live-in fireman to manage the boilers of the new furnace. Electricity was installed in 1891. Benjamin Harrison, the president at the time, used to have his staff turn the lights on and off because he was afraid to touch the switches.
New!
Eternal Flame
The Freedom League's numbers have dwindled to three - but leader Unicorn knows his team isn't finished yet. The turning point comes with Russell, a boy with bright red hair and a genetic variant ability to start fires. He's the first of an influx of new members who will take the League into the future.
Judith and Wil are child prodigies - Judith in physics and electronics, and Wil in medicine. They have another thing in common - they are both genetic variants. And another thing - they both have fiery red hair. They are drawn to one another as their destinies intertwine, but the course of true love doesn't always run smoothly!
Richard is not a variant. He's an Olympic athlete who has picked up useful knowledge from his unusual friends to add to his own natural abilities. A chance encounter with a dying alien throws him into a Freedom League mission in which his skills are put to the ultimate test, along with theirs.
The Freedom League's arch-enemy, the super-villain Obsidian, wants his family fortune all to himself. One person stands in his way - his niece, Fiona. Fiona, devastated by a family tragedy and her failure to get in to her first choice university, is miserable and has few friends. When she realises her brother's death was no accident, and his killer is also after her, she fears it may be too late to gather allies around her and learn how to use her own genetic variant powers.
The Freedom League's numbers have dwindled to three - but leader Unicorn knows his team isn't finished yet. The turning point comes with Russell, a boy with bright red hair and a genetic variant ability to start fires. He's the first of an influx of new members who will take the League into the future.
Judith and Wil are child prodigies - Judith in physics and electronics, and Wil in medicine. They have another thing in common - they are both genetic variants. And another thing - they both have fiery red hair. They are drawn to one another as their destinies intertwine, but the course of true love doesn't always run smoothly!
Richard is not a variant. He's an Olympic athlete who has picked up useful knowledge from his unusual friends to add to his own natural abilities. A chance encounter with a dying alien throws him into a Freedom League mission in which his skills are put to the ultimate test, along with theirs.
The Freedom League's arch-enemy, the super-villain Obsidian, wants his family fortune all to himself. One person stands in his way - his niece, Fiona. Fiona, devastated by a family tragedy and her failure to get in to her first choice university, is miserable and has few friends. When she realises her brother's death was no accident, and his killer is also after her, she fears it may be too late to gather allies around her and learn how to use her own genetic variant powers.
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