One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.

Members of Congress have traveled between the buildings on Capitol Hill for a century hidden from tourists, press, and storm clouds.

Fittingly, America's museum of architecture is itself a magnificently designed old building.

A 1,100-ton train fell through the floor in 1953. Workers got it patched up in just 72 hours.

The first purpose-built art gallery in the United States is once again open as a center of craft arts.

The sci-fi villain is a little-known inhabitant of the U.S. capital's largest cathedral.

There’s a special club house at the top for the bell ringers.

A tiny piece of the Moon is embedded in this stained glass masterpiece.

This bug-eyed water wheel uses the power of the Sun to clean up Baltimore Harbor.

Huge masonic hall in Philadelphia with lavishly themed rooms.

This elaborate towering structure was once famed for its revolutionary height.

The sounds of the world's largest fully functioning pipe organ dazzle shoppers at a Philadelphia Macy's.

The first American department store, and home to the largest operating musical instrument in the world.

One of the most enjoyable bits of history at Coney Island and “the most romantic ride in the world.”

Sniff the Titan Arum's rotting flesh.

This Wall Street bar was once a hub of revolutionary activity where Washington famously bid farewell to his troops.

Unrepaired walls from a 1920 anarchist bomb attack.

Pulled from the rubble of one of the worst modern tragedies, a steel crossbeam became a symbol of hope for New Yorkers.

Once the tallest building in the world and the site of “the highest dinner ever held in New York” this building now holds the most expensive penthouse in the city.

An unassuming secret door once led to a legendary watering hole.

The New York hotel where tragic visionary Nikola Tesla spent his final hours, destitute and alone but for the pigeons.

Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch were all born in this art deco Manhattan masterpiece.

This historic address is home to the beloved ball and is an almost totally empty building among the most expensive real estate in the world.