The Pentagon is a universal symbol of U.S. strength and security known around the world, but do you know the history behind it?

The 1,100 acres of land on which the Pentagon sits was once part of the sprawling estate of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The federal government confiscated it during the Civil War, but the building's concept and construction didn't happen until several decades later.

Here's the rest, in a nutshell.
It was supposed to be temporary.

The Pentagon was the brainchild of Army Brig. Gen. Brehon B. Sommervell, who, in the early 1940s, pitched it as a temporary solution to the then-War Department's critical shortage of space as the threat of joining World War II became imminent.

The plan was approved, and on Sept. 11, 1941, construction began. About 296 acres of land were designated for the building, which was supposed to be turned into a hospital, office or warehouse once World War II was over.

Why make it a pentagon shape?

The logic behind this was pretty simple — the site designated for construction was bordered by five roadways, so the developers decided to go with a five-sided building. Naturally, they called it the Pentagon.
An incredible amount of workers and materials brought it together.

The grounds and building went up in a stunning 16 months. The building was officially completed in January 1943, thanks to the help of 1,000 architects and 14,000 tradesmen who worked three shifts around the clock. A staggering amount of materials were needed, too, including:

435,000 yards of concrete
43,000 tons of steel
680,000 tons of sand and gravel

The first tenants moved into the building in April 1942, several months before the building was finished.

Temporary needs quickly became permanent.

At the height of World War II, the Pentagon housed more than 33,000 people, and its worth exceeded expectations. Officials discovered that they did, in fact, need to keep such a large military force active once the war was over. So, instead of turning the building into something else, it remained the military's command center.

Nowadays, it houses the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the highest echelons of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

In 1992, the building was designated a National Historic Landmark. Due to its age, renovations began around that time on the building's 4 million square feet of space.

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