This Day in History: The Washington Monument Is Completed

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. . 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