The world watched as , at the behest of the Library of Congress , singer , rapper and classically groom flautist Lizzo played a crystal flute once have by President James Madison at a concert in Washington , D.C. , Sept. 26 , 2022 . Some multitude then thought : " expect a minute , I thought the Library of Congress held books and of import papers , not things like crystal flutes . "
Well , true enough , theLibrary of Congress ( LOC)in Washington , D.C. , is the big library in the world and holds more than 51 million catalogue leger and other print cloth in 470 languages . The original library was housed in the U.S. Capitol construction , but its 3,000 volumes were burned by British troops , along with pretty much every other government edifice in Washington , during theWar of 1812 . Three years later , the LOC boughtThomas Jefferson ’s collection of almost 6,500 rule book , and it ’s been arise ever since . Thelibraryhas conglomerate over 173 million items , all stored on its 838 mi ( 1,349 km ) of shelves . Here is a sample of just eight of the fascinating object to be found there .
1. The Contents of Abraham Lincoln’s Pockets the Night He Was Killed
The nighttime Abraham Lincoln wasshot , April 14 , 1865 , he had fail to see a play at Ford ’s Theater . At some spot in the twenty-four hours he had filled his pockets with a variety of object , not knowing they would be on exhibit in the LOC over 150 years later . His pockets contained two pairs of spectacle ( one repaired with a piece of string ) , an embroidered linen paper hanky , a arm button and a brown leather billfold containing a Confederate $ 5 bill and eight late newspaper snip praise his campaign for reelection .
2. 4,000-Year-Old Cuneiform Receipts
The LOC ’s African and Middle Eastern Division oblige a compendium of cuneiform lozenge from ancient Sumeria during the sovereignty of Gudea of Lagash , from the 2100s B.C.E. Although very previous , the authors were n’t writing about very interesting topics : Receipts of requital for goods and services , book of religious offerings and school exercise tablets are among some of those to be seen .
3. 18 Glass Flutes
Claude Laurent was an early nineteenth - C flute maker who , in 1806 , patent the first chalk flute glass . At the metre , champagne flute were generally made of wood or pearl , which could go off slant when the temperature or humidity changed . Laurent ’s looking glass flute glass became popular novelties with flute player , but were replaced by alloy flutes after Laurent ’s death . Three of the LOC ’s flutes were owned by President James Madison — one of which singer , doorknocker and classically trained flutist Lizzoplayed onstage in 2022 , at the behest of the LOC .
4. 25 New Films Each Year
Far too many film are made each class for the LOC to store them all , but since 1988 it has selected 25 American films each twelvemonth from any meter in the history of photographic film that theNational Film Preservation Boarddeems " culturally , historically or esthetically " important enough to be archive in the Library . Some of the films you ’ve probably heard of , while others are more obscure , and in 2021 the LOC decided to hold onto copies of " A Nightmare on Elm Street " ( 1984 ) , John Waters ' " Pink Flamingos " ( 1972 ) and " Jubilo " ( 1919 ) .
5. Celebrity Palm Prints
The occult arts was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s , and Nellie Simmons Meier was one of the most famous palmists in the Earth .
She take the palms of Albert Einstein , Eleanor Roosevelt , George Gershwin and lots of other renown , and often took a palm print of their hands ( along with an John Hancock ) after doing a version .
When Meier snuff it , she donate a portion of these prints to the LOC , and one of the most travel to is Amelia Earhart ’s , accompanied by a description of why her palm made it possible for her to make aviation chronicle : " According to Meier ’s analytic thinking , Earhart ’s medal revealed her passion for fly . The length and breadth of her laurel wreath indicated a love of physical activity and a strong will . Her prospicient fingers not only showed her conscientious care to detail and pursuit of perfection , but also bring out Earhart ’s ambitious yet rational nature . Her palm further reflected the reasoned and logistical fashion of someone who consider all possibilities before make a conclusion . "
6. Human Hair
Before photographs were a coarse way of capture a soul ’s portable inwardness , people trade locks of hair to remind them of loved ones who were far away or departed . The LOC owns hair from all sorts of people , both famous and strange . It house a filament of George Washington ’s hair , as well as hair from the heads of Ludwig van Beethoven , Enda St. Vincent Millay , Ulysses S. Grant and a complicated mi of hair gifted by James Madison to a lady friend , among others . The LOC also has anonymous hair given to President James Garfield with the distinction " My Compliments , " which he keep in his diary . There are also many wisp of hair’s-breadth kept by parent of children who go young .
7. 1507 Waldseemüller World Map
German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller make the first map of the globe — or what was known of it in 1507 — that include the New World , free-base on the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci in 1501 - 1502 . The LOC have theonly endure copyof the function ’s original printing process , which was grow from a wood block on 12 separate sheets of newspaper . On the map , Waldseemüller called the New World " America , " a Latinized interlingual rendition of Vespucci ’s first name . The Waldseemüller World Map is sometimes called " America ’s Birth Certificate . "
8. Every Public Tweet Posted Between 2006-2018
In 2010 , the social media app Twitter made a passel with the LOC : It would pass over each and every public tweet posted since its origination in 2006 . But in 2018 , the LOC decided they had gatheredenough tweets , and now only archives the most illustrious I . This decision was ground on a few considerations , let in how much space the data take up , but also that the LOC deem the documentation of the emanation of the influential app complete . Held by the LOC is the first tweet posted by one of Twitter ’s beginner , Jack Dorsey , March 21 , 2006 :
