Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover who was instrumental in its construction. This marvel of engineering began in 1931 and was completed two years ahead of schedule in 1936. Hardhats made of two baseball caps dipped in tar and allowed to harden were used for the first time. A surveyor was one of the first people to die in the dam’s construction. The son of the surveyor was the last person to die thirteen years to the day of his father’s death. When Franklin Roosevelt defeated Hoover in the 1932 presidential election, his Secretary of the Interior removed Hoover’s name from the project and unofficially renamed it Boulder Dam. After Roosevelt’s death, Congress restored the name Hoover Dam. Amazingly, the concrete used in construction of the National Historical Landmark is still curing and gaining strength every day.