The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S.
state of Pennsylvania and is in downtown Harrisburg. The current
capitol was designed in 1902, in a Beaux-Arts style with Renaissance
themes throughout. The capitol houses the chambers for the Pennsylvania
General Assembly, made up of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, and the Harrisburg chambers for the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant
Governor. It is also the central building of the Pennsylvania State
Capitol Complex, which includes state government buildings in
Harrisburg and throughout the rest of the state. The seat of government
for the state was originally in Philadelphia, then moved to Lancaster
in 1799 and finally to Harrisburg in 1812. The current capitol, known
as the Huston Capitol, is the third state capitol building to be in
Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a
fire and the second, the Cobb Capitol, was left unfinished when funding
was discontinued in 1899. Joseph Miller Huston designed the current
capitol, dedicated in 1906. The capitol is often referred to as a
"palace of art" because of its many sculptures, murals and
stained-glass windows.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_Capitol>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to secede from
the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the Confederate
States of America and later the American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America>
1917:
The Cheka , the first Soviet secret police, was established by a decree
issued by Vladimir Lenin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheka>
1951:
Experimental Breeder Reactor I near Arco, Idaho, USA, became the
world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant when it
produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light
bulbs.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I>
1973:
Spanish Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco was assassinated by a bomb
planted by members of the Basque nationalist and separatist
organisation ETA.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Carrero_Blanco>
1989:
American forces invaded Panama to overthrow the government of Manuel
Noriega.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama>
1999:
Portugal transferred sovereignty of Macau to the People's Republic of
China.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stertorously (adv):
With heavy breathing, as if snoring; in a stertorous manner
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stertorously>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that
there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be
the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.
--John Steinbeck
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck>