General Grant National Memorial

His funeral in New York City drew an estimated 1.5 million people, including many veterans of the war on both sides.

He was buried in a temporary tomb in Riverside Park, and 12 years later, a permanent memorial, Grant's Tomb, was finished and his remains moved there, joined by Julia in 1902.

She had lived the rest of her life on the proceeds from her husband's memoirs, about $450,000 in today's money.

At the time of his death, Grant was considered one of America's foremost heroes, ranking up there with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Because I'm a cooperative citizen.

Where'd you find it? At Grant's tomb.

You know, I've been curious about that tomb for years now.

Finally, I took time off to go to study it.

Then I found a letter on the steps.

And I never did get to really study Grant's tomb.

Tough.

You'll stick around, huh? Some of our boys want to have a long chat with you.

By the way, on the...

Riverside Drive on the west side, there's Grant's Tomb up near Columbia.

Grant's Tomb.

And the question is, who's buried in Grant's Tomb? If you ask the question, the answer is no one because it's not a tomb.

It's a mausoleum.

Anyway, Grant's got one.

In any event, I have to ask you a question now, speaking of this.

So who is buried in Grant's Tomb? This is a trick question, by the way, and this is a play on words.

[laughs] It's in Governor's Island, New York.

He died in 1885.

People watched from bridges.

He landed on the water near Grant's Tomb at the upper end of Manhattan, waded ashore to a crowd of thousands, and collected a $10,000 prize from the New York World newspaper.

By the time the First World War arrived, the Curtis Aeroplane Company was the most important aircraft manufacturer in America.

The JN-4, the Jenny, trained most of the American pilots who went to France to fight.

They buried him in New York City.

His tomb, Grant's Tomb, still stands along the Hudson River, a marble statement that if nothing else, he endured.

But the next to die would go more quietly.

Chester A. Arthur, who had inherited the office from a murdered president, faded out of life with no audience, no scandal, and almost no sound.

On July 13th, Bleriot flew from Étampes to Cheville, 26 miles in 44 minutes and 30 seconds, and on July 25th, he made the first flight across the British Channel, 32 miles in 37 minutes.

Orville Wright made several sensational flights in his biplane around Berlin, while his brother Wilbur delighted New Yorkers by circling the Statue of Liberty and flying up the Hudson from Governor's Island to Grant's Tomb and return, a distance of 21 miles in 33 minutes and 33 seconds, during the Hudson-Fulton celebration.

On November 20th, Louis Paulhan, in a biplane, flew from Mourmelon to Chalon, France, and return, 37 miles in 55 minutes, rising to a height of 1,000 feet.

The dirigible airship was also much in evidence during 1909.

And on July 25th, he made the first flight across the British Channel, 32 miles in 37 minutes.

Orville Wright made several sensational flights in his biplane around Berlin, while his brother Wilbur delighted New Yorkers by circling the Statue of Liberty and flying up the Hudson from Governor's Island to Grant's Tomb and return, a distance of 21 miles in 33 minutes and 33 seconds during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.

On November 20th, Louis Paulhan in a biplane flew from Mourmelon to Châlons, France, and returned 37 miles in 55 minutes, rising to a height of 1,000 feet.

The dirigible airship was also much in evidence during 1909, Zeppelin especially performing some remarkable feats.