Joseph Henry Provides Advice on Protecting U.S. Capitol Building from Lightning
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PrintFirst Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry provides advice on protecting the United States Capitol Building from lightning, in response to a query from Vice President George Mifflin Dallas. A gaslight entrepreneur had proposed the outside of the building be lit by attaching a massive lantern to an eighty-foot mast extending from the dome's center. In his formal reply to Dallas, Henry remarks that such a mechanism will surely attract lightning, but that properly grounding the lantern will prevent damage to the building. With modifications recommended by Henry, the mast is erected. The following summer, however, Henry is asked to inspect the mast and discovers that lightning has struck it several times. The mast is then removed.
Chronology of Smithsonian History
SCAN IMAGE OF US CAPITOL - PAINTING OF DC C. 1840S
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
August 12, 1847