Ep. 185: The White House – Top 6 Facts
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on a building which is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States, the White House.
The White House was named as such primarily because of its white-grey sandstone. This was augmented when the porous sandstone walls were whitewashed with a mixture of lime, rice glue, casein, and lead, which served as a means to protect the stone from freezing along with solidifying the moniker of ‘White House.’
The White House has housed every president apart from the first which was George Washington who played an integral part in its construction. It was designed in a neoclassical style by architect James Hoban who was originally born in Kilkenny, Ireland.
During its history it has undergone a number of renovations some of which include:
· The addition of colonnades on each wing by Thomas Jefferson and architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe
· The reconstruction after the fire in 1814
· Construction of the South and North Portico respectively in 1824 and 1829
· The West Wing construction in 1901 by Theodore Roosevelt
· And; the expansion of the West Wing by William Howard Taft to create the first oval office
The White House has a footprint of around 55,000 square feet and includes six stories. It has a total of 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases, a tennis court, a bowling alley, and a movie theatre.
It is the centre of power in the US, with some of the most sophisticated security in the world, and the home to the president and family who are welcomed to add their own personal touches to the residence during their stay.
Today’s mnemonic will be on six facts about the White House.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States.
Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia.
"The White House" is also used as a metonym to refer to the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style.
Hoban modeled the building on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which today houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Constructed between 1792 and 1800, its exterior walls are Aquia Creek sandstone painted white.
When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he and architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe added low colonnades on each wing to conceal what then were stables and storage.
In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by British forces in the burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior.
Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817.
Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semicircular South Portico in 1824 and the North Portico in 1829.
Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901.
Eight years later, in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, which was eventually moved and expanded.
The present-day White House complex includes the Executive Residence, the West Wing, the East Wing, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which previously served the State Department and other departments, and Blair House, a guest residence.
The Executive Residence is made up of six stories: the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, and a two-story basement.
The property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of President's Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of America's Favorite Architecture.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House]
Mnemonic
The White House – Top 6 Facts Mnemonic – James Designed Whitehouse Located North West
(Picture James Hoban who designed the White House located on the North West of Pennsylvania Avenue)
1. John Adams was the first president in the White House in 1800
2. Designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban
3. White House was set ablaze by British forces in 1814, during the War of 1812
4. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
5. National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service
6. West Wing was completed in 1901 by Theodore Roosevelt
Five Fun Facts
1. Construction of the White House took place between 1792 and 1800 before which John Adams was the first president to reside. Originally in Philadelphia, it was moved to Washington as part of the Residence Act of July 16, 1790 to appease pro-slavery states who were concerned that a northern capital was too sympathetic to abolitionists.
2. As we know the White House was set ablaze by British forces in 1814 in retaliation for the U.S. forces setting fire to Canada’s parliament in the city of York in Ontario a year earlier. The next big fire in the White House was on Christmas Eve in 1929 when a blaze was started by a blocked fireplace. It gutted parts of the West Wing and Oval Office during Herbert Hoover’s Administration.
3. The grounds of the White House encompass just over 18 acres or about 7.3 hectares. The general layout of the grounds is based on the 1935 design by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. of the Olmsted Brothers firm, which was commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The White House Rose Garden was redesigned by Rachel Lambert Mellon during the Kennedy administration. She also designed the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden which Jacqueline helped begin.
4. The White House has had its fair share of aviation incidents. Some of the more notable include:
· In 1974, a stolen U.S. Army helicopter landed without authorization on the White House grounds
· In 1994, a stolen light plane flown by Frank Eugene Corder crashed on White House grounds, instantly killing him
· During the September 11 attacks, the U.S. Secret Service instructed evacuation after a call was made to them from
Ronald Reagan, Washington National Airport air traffic control, stating that, "There is an aircraft coming at you."
· A student pilot accidently violated restricted airspace and was escorted to a nearby airport by a helicopter
· In 2015 a man lost control of his quadcopter drone which subsequently crashed on the southeast side of the White House
grounds
· And; in 2023, fighter jets intercepted a light aircraft that violated Washington DC airspace, before it crashed in Virginia killing
all on board
5. As mentioned in fact one, Philadelphia was originally home to the President’s House. They were in turn not happy or impressed that the new city of Washington was getting the president’s executive mansion. So, they went ahead in the 1790s, and built their own version of the White House in an attempt to lure George Washington and others to stay in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, for them Washington refused, and stayed elsewhere.
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. What was installed first in the White House? An elevator or a telephone
Q.2. What year was the White House given its name of White House? Options are 1800, 1901, or 1929
Q.3. What is Blair House used for?
Bonus Q. Which president was the first to have a child born in the White House? Hint: The child was born in 1895
Bonus Q. How much does the combined laundry of everyone in the White House weigh?
Mnemonic Recap
The White House – Top 6 Facts Mnemonic – James Designed Whitehouse Located North West
(Picture James Hoban who designed the White House located on the North West of Pennsylvania Avenue)
1. John Adams was the first president in the White House in 1800
2. Designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban
3. White House was set ablaze by British forces in 1814, during the War of 1812
4. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
5. National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service
6. West Wing was completed in 1901 by Theodore Roosevelt
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. What was installed first in the White House? An elevator or a telephone
A. A telephone was installed in 1877 one year after its invention. The elevator was in 1881.
Q.2. What year was the White House given its name of White House? Options are 1800, 1901, or 1929
A. 1901 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Before this, it had been called the “President’s Palace,” the “President’s House,” and the “Executive Mansion.”
Q.3. What is Blair House used for?
A. A guest residence
Bonus Q. Which president was the first to have a child born in the White House? Hint: The child was born in 1895
A. Grover Cleveland welcomed his daughter Esther
Bonus Q. How much does the combined laundry of everyone in the White House weigh?
A. A Washington!
Word of the Week
torrefy
[ tawr-uh-fahy ]
verb
to subject (something) to fire or intense heat
Example
In 1814 the White House was torrefied by the British in retaliation for the U.S. forces setting fire to Canada’s parliament in the city of York in Ontario.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
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References
https://kids.kiddle.co/White_House
https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/glimpse/WH_Facts/html/facts.html
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-facts-on-the-white-house-anniversary
https://www.americanguesthouse.com/blog/2010/12/white-house-trivia.html