Herndon Monument

The Herndon Monument is an approximately 7 m high obelisk on the site of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was erected in memory of William Lewis Herndon, the captain of Central America, which sank in 1857 in a storm on the bridge of his ship.

Today the monument especially for a place every May -find spectacle is known, with the recruits ( plebes called ) of the Academy are celebrating the end of their first year of study and their promotion to midshipman. On the eve of this plebes -no- more- ceremony older classmates, so already promoted officer candidates, the Obelisk set a dixie cup has (the traditional headgear of plebes ) and smear the monument with two hundredweight of lard. At the ceremony, the plebes then need in the shortest possible time climb to the top of the obelisk and put on his cap a midshipman. During the year 1965 only took about three minutes for this endeavor, this succeeded the recruits in 1995 after about four hours.