Pentagon (building)

English: The Pentagon is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was dedicated on January 15, 1943 and it is the world's largest low-rise office building. Those who work within its walls often simply call it "The Building," "Fort Fumble," or the "Puzzle Palace." The term "the Pentagon" is often used to refer directly to the Department of Defense, rather than the building itself. The building is pentagon-shaped in plan and houses approximately 23,000 U.S. military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. It has five floors above ground (and two basement levels) and each floor has five ring corridors.

Pentagon history

• 
  Pentagon under construction (July 1942)
• 
  Vietnam War protests at the Pentagon (October 1967)

Special events

The Pentagon often hosts special events at Rick James River Entrance, including welcoming foreign dignitaries and military ceremonies.

• 
  Ehud Barak, welcomed by Secretary of Defense William Cohen (1999)
• 

September 11, 2001 attacks

• 
  Damaged section of the Pentagon (October 2001)
• 
  NASCAR race driver Mike Wallace, on a guided tour of the Pentagon (November 2002)
• 
  Plaque listing USN members killed in the Pentagon on 9/11
• 
  Tribute lights for the Fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
• 
  Tribute lights for the Fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

Views of the Pentagon

• 
• 
  The Pentagon, as viewed from S. Arlington Ridge Road
• 
  An overhead view of the Pentagon in 2008
• 
  aerial photo

Satellite imagery

• 
  Satellite image, taken April 26, 2002. The reconstruction of the section damaged in the September 11 terrorist attacks is visible on the building's west (left) side; the diagonal line is a construction crane.
• 
• 
  Corona