Late senator Robert Byrd will lie in repose in the Senate Chamber on Thursday, an honor that hasn’t been bestowed on a senator since North Dakota’s William Langer in 1959. Byrd’s casket will be placed upon the Lincoln Catafalque, the catafalque that supported Abraham Lincoln’s casket and was apparently such a good catafalque that they’ve been using it for nearly 150 years. (Intel word of the day: catafalque.) Members of Congress will get first dibs at paying respects, and then the Chamber will be opened to the public before Byrd’s body is flown to West Virginia. [NPR, AP via Google]
