
Federal officials announced that philanthropist David Rubenstein will give $18.5 million to restore and upgrade the Lincoln Memorial, shown here during a wreath-laying ceremony celebrating the 16th President's 207th birthday on Friday, February 12.

Sean Kennealy of the National Park Service points out drawings on a concrete pillar Monday, February 15. The renovation will include providing visitors with a look at graffiti left by construction workers building the monument.

Cranes lift blocks of marble to the top of the structure in 1914.

Workers install the statue of President Abraham Lincoln in 1920.

People skate on the frozen Potomac River in front of the memorial in this undated photo.

The Lincoln statue looms over visitors in 1962.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the memorial on August 28, 1963.

Anti-war protesters splash around in the Reflecting Pool during a rally against the Vietnam War in May 1970.

Planes fly over the memorial during the inauguration of George H.W. Bush in January 1989.

Marine One flies over the Reflecting Pool with President Bill Clinton on board in May 1999.

In August 2010, tourists pass the marker commemorating King's 1963 speech on the east steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Algae forms on the water in the Reflecting Pool in September 2012.

Lincoln's statue was vandalized with green paint in 2013.

