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The Thomas Jefferson Memorial |
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APRIL 13 |
| 1743 Thomas Jefferson is born on this day at Shadwell in Goochland County (now Albemarle County), Virginia according to the New (Gregorian) Calendar. According to the Old (Julian) Calendar, Jefferson was actually born on April 2nd. The New Calendar was adopted by Great Britain and its colonies in 1752. To bring the calendar in line with the solar year, it added eleven days, and the new year began in January rather than March. |
| 1937 Organ Pipe Cactus is established as a national monument. Today this 330,689-acre unit of the National Park Service features a remarkable collection of plants of the Sonoran Desert, including the organ pipe cactus, a large cactus rarely found in the United States. There are also many creatures that have been able to adapt themselves to extreme temperatures, intense sunlight and little rainfall. |
| 1943 The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. A circular colonnaded structure in Washington, DC, this unit of the National Park Service memorializes the political philosopher of the American Revolution and 3rd President of the United States (1801-09). |
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