Aluminum history?

To answer the phone call I just received, here is a small piece of Aluminum's interesting history: the cap of the washington monument as taken from a website of the same name.

"In 1783, a thankful U.S. Continental Congress passed a resolution to keep alive the memory of George Washington by authorizing the erection of a monument in his honor. In 1848 a consensus among many involved groups was achieved, and the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid. It took another 37 years for the monument to be completed and dedicated in 1885.

Just as the Washington Monument is an important symbol for the people of the United States, so also is the aluminum pyramid cap at its apex a symbol for the aluminum industry. Indeed, it was accorded this high accolade 50 years after its placement by Edgar H. Dix, then chief metallurgist of the Aluminum Company of America (now Alcoa) when he declared "the crown jewel of the aluminum industry is the cap of the Washington Monument." He made the statement as one of a very small group of experts asked to inspect the condition of the pyramid after 50 years of exposure during the first refurbishing of the monument in 1934 (pictured here)."