Landmarks
Click below to get the full story on the famous landmarks seen in Life After People!
The Great Pyramids
The Great Pyramids, located at Giza on the west bank of the Nile River north of Cairo, were built around 2500 B.C. as royal tombs. Of the three pyramids, the largest and most impressive is Khufu, which covers 13 acres and is believed to contain more than 2 million stone blocks. It took modern man until the 19th century to build a taller structure. Amazingly, the nearly symmetrical pyramids were built without the aid of modern tools or surveying equipment. The sloped walls, which were intended to mimic the rays of the sun god, were originally built as steps, and then filled in with limestone. The interior of the pyramids included narrow corridors and hidden chambers in an unsuccessful attempt to foil grave robbers. Although modern archeologists have found some great treasures among the ruins, they believe most of what the pyramids once contained was looted thousands of years ago.
The Colosseum
Once the site of bloody gladiator battles, the Colosseum still stands as one of the greatest architectural legacies of ancient Rome. Commissioned by the emperor Vespasian around 70 A.D., the open-air theater and sports arena could seat 50,000 people. Vespasian's son and successor, Titus, dedicated the Colosseum in A.D. 80 with a 100-day celebration. Gladiators, who were typically male, were forced to fight each other as well as wild animals, often to the death, while blood-thirsty crowds cheered them on. The floor of the Colosseum is said to have been covered with sand to soak up the blood. In the early years of its existence, the Colosseum was also flooded so mock naval battles could be staged. Over the centuries, the Colosseum suffered from earthquake damage and was stripped for building materials. Today, it is a popular tourist destination, but stands as a shell of its former self, next to one of Rome's busy traffic circles.
The Great Wall of China
Known as the world's largest man-made structure, the Great Wall of China spans mountains and deserts and was over 2,000 years in the making. It is actually a series of walls, signal towers and passes that were built, rebuilt and expanded by different dynasties. The Wall was originally constructed in the 5th century to protect the Chinese Empire's northern border from nomadic tribes and other invaders. Millions of people, many of them forced laborers, worked on the Great Wall over the centuries. Countless workers lost their lives in the process and the remains of some are buried within the Wall. The Wall was originally built of earth and stone, but during the Ming dynasty, bricks were introduced. China opened the Great Wall to tourists in 1970. Today, large sections of the wall have fallen into disrepair and in some places people continue to remove stones for building homes and roads. No one knows exactly how long the Wall is, although estimates often range from 3,000 to 4,500 miles.
The Empire State Building
Construction on the 1,453-foot high, 102-story Art Deco-inspired Empire State Building began on March 17, 1930, and was completed at a record pace. The 60,000-ton steel framework went up at a rate of four-and-a-half stories per week. As many as 3,000 men worked on the building at one time. When it officially opened on May 1, 1931, it became the "world's tallest building," a crown it held until beaten out by the World Trade Center in the early 1970s. Over 110 million people have visited the Empire State since it opened to the public in 1931. On a clear day, visibility stretches for 80 miles. The Empire State has 6,500 windows; 1,860 steps from the street to the 102nd floor; and 73 elevators. The building's occupants produce 100 tons of garbage each month.
The Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge, as closely associated with San Francisco as cable cars and fog, had the world's largest suspension span when it opened to motor traffic on May 28, 1937. Connecting the City by the Bay to Marin County, the majestic bridge was designed by Joseph Strauss and built from fabricated steel. Eleven men died during the construction process, which took four-and-a-half years to complete. The Golden Gate gets its name not from its color but from the Golden Gate Strait, the mile-wide entrance to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The bridge is painted an orange-red known as "International Orange," which suits the dramatic natural setting and also makes it easier to spot by ships sailing through the frequently foggy area. Today, over 41 million vehicles cross the bridge each year. Since it opened, over 1,250 people have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge. Throughout its history, the bridge has only been closed three times due to bad weather.
The Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public on May 24, 1883, connecting the cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn for the first time. The bridge took 14 years to complete and claimed 27 lives during its construction. Designed by John A. Roebling, who did not live to see its completion, it was the largest suspension span built to that date. The two granite foundations of the Brooklyn Bridge were built in timber caissons, or watertight chambers, sunk to depths of 44 feet on the Brooklyn side and 78 feet on the New York side. The bridge was built to be six times stronger that was strictly necessary at the time, and luckily so--if not, the bridge's roadway would not have been stiff enough to carry the automotive traffic that arrived after the turn of the century. Within 24 hours of its opening, an estimated 250,000 people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, using a broad promenade above the roadway that Roebling designed solely for the enjoyment of pedestrians. It remains a popular tourist destination.
Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam, constructed in the early 1930s on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nebraska, was the largest dam of its time and one of the largest manmade structures in the world. Thanks to the efforts of 21,000 workers, it took only five years to build--and came in two years and millions of dollars under budget. More than 3 million cubic yards of concrete were used in its construction--enough to pave a highway from San Francisco to New York City. Today, the Hoover Dam is the second highest dam in the United States and the 18th highest in the world. It generates enough energy each year to serve over a million people.
Mount Rushmore
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began sculpting the faces of four beloved U.S. presidents--Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt--into the face of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest in 1927. Each of the faces is approximately 60 feet long, and the noses alone are 20 feet long (Washington's, at 21 feet, is the longest). The monument was the brainchild of a South Dakota historian named Doane Robinson, who was looking for a way to attract more tourists to his state. The project, which involved 400 workers, was finally completed in 1939 to the tune of $1 million, most of which was covered by the federal government. An estimated 4 million people visit the monument each year.
The Space Needle
The 605-foot-tall (520 feet above ground) Space Needle, built for the 1962 World's Fair, is now a beloved symbol of Seattle, Washington and one of the most famous attractions of the Pacific Northwest. The tower was once the tallest U.S. building west of the Mississippi River. Ever since its Fair debut, elevators have whisked visitors—today, it takes a mere 43 seconds—to the tower's famed observation deck for 360-degree views of downtown Seattle, Puget Sound and Mount Rainier.
The U.S. Capitol
George Washington laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol building on September 18, 1793, but the building--due to construction delays, war and arson by the British--was not completed until nearly a century later. It was designed by William Thornton, a Scotsman, after French engineer Pierre L'Enfant was fired. Today, the Capitol building, with its famous cast-iron dome and important collection of American art, is part of the Capitol Complex, which includes six Congressional office buildings and three Library of Congress buildings, all developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Capitol is visited by 3 million to 5 million people each year, has 540 rooms and covers a ground area of about four acres.
Eiffel Tower
The 984-foot Eiffel Tower has graced the left bank of the Seine River in Paris since 1889. The tower, built for the Exposition Universelle to honor the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, is now a French icon, and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. Designed by Charles Eiffel, an engineer who also designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty, the tower consists of an iron framework supported on four masonry piers, from which rise four columns that unite to form a single vertical tower. The tower's metal alone weighs 7,300 tons, and there are 1,665 steps to the top. Although the design initially came under much criticism, it was a technological wonder and within a few decades came to be regarded as an architectural masterpiece. The Eiffel Tower reigned as the world's tallest structure from 1889 until the completion of New York's Chrysler Building in 1930. The tower narrowly avoided demolition in 1909, and now ranks as one of the world's biggest tourist attractions, with more than 235 million visitors to date.
New York City
New York City, often billed as the "capital of the world," is home to more than 8.2 million people, making it the most populous city in the United States. It is a financial, commercial, manufacturing, transportation, educational and tourist center and serves as the headquarters for many major international corporations. The island of Manhattan, home to about 1.6 million residents, is only about 24 square miles; all five boroughs, meanwhile, make up about 301 square miles. The city is also home to more than 5 million trees, a number slated to increase dramatically as the city "goes green." The first European settlers came to the New York area in the 1620s, and it gradually grew in importance. It served as an early capital of the young United States and in 1835 it became the largest city in the country. Today, more than 40 million people from around the world visit New York City each year, spending more than $24 billion annually, to enjoy its unique mix of culture, fine dining, shopping and entertainment.
