The preamble to the U.S. Constitution written entirely from vanity license plates hangs in the Smithsonian museum.

During the Industrial Revolution this “Temple of Invention” was full of intricate miniature machines and gadgets.

The house where John Wilkes Booth conspired with his co-conspirators.

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.

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

While most wind tunnels test scale models, the "Cave of Winds" was large enough for actual airplanes.

A muscular Art Deco monument represents the struggle between regulators and unbridled markets.

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.

The actual model from the original "Star Trek" series is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

Railroad officials in the early 1900s sought to spare travelers the sight of Roman soldiers’ private parts.

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

"Congress may voluntarily remain in session throughout the summer, in order that our Congressmen may be protected from the intolerable discomforts and dangers of the ordinary outdoor weather!”

The tunnel under the Capitol Building where Congress takes out its trash.

An echo chamber with a waterfall wrapped around its base at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.

A museum cafe showcases Native American dishes and indigenous ingredients from across the Western Hemisphere.

A secret greenspace hides atop a Capitol parking garage.

This statue of the "father of television" stands prominently in the United States Capitol.

Corn-inthian columns with a uniquely American take on neoclassical architecture.

Senators used to relax in the nearly forgotten marble tubs now hidden in the U.S. Capitol Building's basement.

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

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.

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.

What happens here stays here – unless it affects the whole world.