By: Annika Larsen, Fox Cities
Model Government is quickly passing, but it’s fun to think about some of the noteworthy things about Madison as we are here. Here are 7 of the most interesting and impressive facts about Madison and the Capitol Building itself.
-It’s illegal to build any building taller than the Capitol in Madison. The columns surrounding the dome are the height limit.
-In 1988 The Onion, a satirical news platform, was founded by two UW-Madison students, Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson. They started the platform when they were so low on money that they were down to white bread and onions, forcing them to make onion sandwiches. This inspired the name of the publication.
-The Madison Capitol building has the second highest dome in the entire country, next to the U.S. Capitol. In addition, it is entirely made of granite. This makes it the largest granite dome in the world.
-Parts of the 2009 movie Public Enemies, along with multiple other movies, were filmed at the capitol building and in the surrounding areas. Unfortunately the movies often didn’t do as well as expected, causing many to think the city may be a cursed location for filming.
-Madison consistently ranks in the top 10 list of the best places to live in the United States. This is partly thanks to its small population. Madison was ranked #8 by Prevention Magazine and #5 by Livability.
-Otis Redding passed away when his plane crashed into Lake Monona, one of the 5 lakes around the city. You may recognize his songs “Stand by Me” and “(Sittin’ On) The Dock By The Bay.”
-Madison’s official city bird is the pink plastic flamingo due to the infamous prank of Bascom Hill in 1979. Students covered the hill with exactly 1,008 pink plastic flamingos. Now the university uses it as publicity, inviting people to donate to its needs and adding one flamingo to the flock with every gift received.