Visible for miles, the original Hollywood sign read "Hollywoodland" and was lit up by 4,000 lights. A 400-foot-high (120 m) replacement was erected in 1978, Hollywood's 75th anniversary.
The great cathedral of St. Cophia at Constantinople (Istanbul) has sustained for 1,600 years what was, until very recent times, the largest self-supporting dome ever constructed. Moreover, it has done so in an active seismic region.
Warsaw, Poland, holds the distinction of opening the world's first public library in 1747.
The Greenwich Observatory is currently located at Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy in Central England. However, the site of the observatory was originally in Greenwich, and was arbitrarily established in 1884 as longitude 0 degrees. The observatory was moved because London's fog made celestial observations difficult. A plaque in the original structure marks the zero point from which longitude is calculated. The observatory was founded in 1675 by King Charles II to keep accurate tables of the position of the moon for the calculation of longitude by English ships. Photographs of the sun were taken daily at the observatory, conditions permitting, and a continuous photographic record of sunspots was kept starting in 1873.
Wat Benjamabophit is the last major temple to have been built in Bangkok. It's a blend of classical Thai and nineteenth-century European design, with unusual Victorian stained-glass windows with figures from Thai mythology. The structure has Carrara marble walls, prompting the tourist tag “The Marble Temple”. Wat Benjamabophit is one of the best temples in Bangkok for tourists to see religious festivals and rituals. Monks elsewhere in Bangkok go out on the streets every morning in search of alms, but at the Marble Temple, the ritual is reversed. Early each morning, "Marble Temple's" monks line up outside, solemnly holding bowls ready to receive donations of curry and rice, lotus buds, incense, even toilet paper and Coca-Cola.
The height of the 984-foot-tall Eiffel Tower varies, depending on the temperature, by as much as 6 inches.
West Virginia’s largest and most beautiful caverns, Seneca Caverns, are located in West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountain range. Seneca Caverns were discovered in 1760, and tours began in 1930. The Seneca tribe used the caverns in the 1600s and 1700s for ceremonies and as refuge from winter storms and enemy tribes. Spectacular natural formations and huge chambers provide majestic views for visitors and photographers. A major feature of the cave is the breathtaking Grand Ballroom, measuring 60 feet by 30 feet, and 70 feet high. It can hold several hundred people, and features an extraordinary natural balcony on its back wall.
The historic Windsor Castle in Britain has more than its fair share of ghosts, according to the United Kingdom-based Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. The ghosts include some royal ones, including King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, King Charles I, and King George III (“Mad” King George). King Henry is supposed to haunt the cloisters near the Deanery with ghostly groans and the sound of dragging footsteps.
When it first opened in 1957, the Pinnacle Peak Restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, was a general store and rest stop for travelers heading to nearby lakes. To boost sales of his small business, the original owner decided to serve dinner on the weekends. He bought six steaks, some lettuce, and pinto beans, and offered an authentic cowboy cookout. The simple cuisine was a great success. What started as a weekend experiment grew into the world’s largest western steakhouse, with seating for 1,800 people inside and outside for 2,000.
The Hollywood sign was first erected in 1923. Conceived as a real estate ad, it originally read Hollywoodland. The sign stands 50 feet tall, stretches 450 feet across, weighs 450,000 pounds.
When it was opened in 1965, the Houston Astrodome was the world's largest air-conditioned room — reportedly, an 18-story building can fit inside it.
The home tour of Graceland, Elvis Presley's opulent mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, consists of the living and music rooms, Elvis's parents' bedroom, the kitchen, the TV, dining, and pool rooms, and “jungle” den in the main house. Behind the house, the tour takes in Elvis’s racquetball building and his original business office. A tour highlight for fans is "The King's" trophy building, filled with his enormous collection of gold records and awards, and an extensive display of mementos, stage costumes, jewelry, and photographs. Flash photos at Graceland are no longer allowed. Over the years, the flashing has caused deterioration of the colors and fabrics in the rooms, as well as the oils in the paintings.
When visiting Colorado's capitol in Denver, tourists are amazed at the resemblance the structure bears to the nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C. It was designed and built with the nation's capitol in mind. The majestic building is composed of white granite, with large pillars at each entrance that help support the ceramic-style roof. Pillars along the west entrance support statues that were carved in stone, depicting early life in Denver. The building was built in the 1890s. In 1908, 24-karat gold was used to plate the building's bell-shaped dome, commemorating the discovery of the precious metal by early pioneers.
The Hoover Dam was built to last 2,000 years. The concrete in it will not even be fully cured for another 500 years.
The huge marble dome on top of the State Capitol of Rhode Island was the first of its kind in the United States.
The huge marble dome on top of the State Capitol of Rhode Island was the first of its kind in the United States.
Most roofs in the Washington, D.C. area are designed to withstand at least 15 to 20 pounds of snow per square foot.
Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, is home to the largest mustard museum in the world, housing 1,493 different varieties from Argentina to Switzerland and 48 of the U.S. states. Of yellow mustard alone, the museum has about 200 varieties.
Natural Bridge Caverns, outside of San Antonio, Texas, is the largest of its kind in the state. The cavern maintains a temperature of 70° F year-round, and the humidity is 99 percent. All the drinking water for the visitors' center comes from the cavern. The well was drilled into the far end of the North Cavern, about 1.5 miles from where the tour stops.
New York City has the most skyscrapers of any city in the world with 140. Chicago is a distant second at 68. The term "skyscraper" technically describes all habitable buildings with a height of more than 500 feet (152 m).
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