Today in 1858, the founding of the city of Denver, Colorado.
The land had been used by Araphoe people for years and was later part of the Kansas Territory.
In fact, Denver got its name because the city founders wanted it to be the county seat and so they named it after territorial governor James Denver.
They found out later that he’d left office before they sent word about the honor.
But the Mile High City has done just fine for itself anyway.
It eventually became the state capitol of Colorado, which meant it was home to the capitol building.
And that building is home to the entire known supply of a kind of stone known as Colorado Rose Onyx.
You can actually touch the stone today.
It’s at the base of many of the building’s stone pillars.
As you might guess from the name Rose Onyx, it’s got a reddish tinge to it.
It was once called Beulah red marble, though technically it’s not marble at all.
It’s limestone that underwent metamorphosis, and the red color comes from iron oxide.
As for the Beulah in the stone’s old name, that comes from the spot where it was found: a quarry near the unincorporated town of Beulah in south central Colorado.
That quarry is pretty much the only place Colorado Rose Onyx has ever been found.
And because the Colorado State Capitol is a pretty big building, nearly all of the known supply of the onyx was used in the construction.
They do keep some of the stone in reserve, in case they need to make repairs.
That’s only happened a couple times, and hopefully the rest of that backup supply will just sit in place.
So look and touch the rare Colorado Rose Onyx when you tour the building, but, y’know… be careful.
Happy National Baklava Day.
This sweet and flaky dessert has fans all over the world.
Guinness says the largest baklava on record was baked in Ankara, Turkey in 2018.
It weighed 1,130 pounds and 15 ounces – and I would eat every last bite of that if I could.
Only in Denver: Rose Onyx at Colorado State Capitol (Denver.org)
Largest baklava (Guinness)
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