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Tower of Babel
The myth of The Tower of Babel was told in Genesis (The Old Testament) as a way to explain why the people of the world's speak different languages. According to the story, a united humanity in the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language migrated eastward to the land of Shinar. Once there they decided to build a city and a tower tall enough to reach heaven. God was not pleased with their arrogance and so, confounded their speech. Now that they could no longer understand each other, they scattered around the world. |
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The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu over a 20 year period and completed around 2560 BC. Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered by limestone casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface; what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Initially at 146.5 metres (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3,800 years. |
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Lincoln Cathedral
It's full name is the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln but also known as St Mary's Cathedral. Construction began in 1072 and continued in several phases, over the next few hundred years, throughout the medieval period. It took over from the Great Pyramid of Giza as the tallest building in the world in 1311 and held that honour for the next 238 years until 1548. It is considered by many as an architectural masterpiece. Victorian writer John Ruskin declared: "I have always held ... that the cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have." |
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The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It is named after the engineer who built it, Gustave Eiffel. It was constructed from 1887–1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair. It has since become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. It is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. It surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. |
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The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story] Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1931, the building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. The original design of the Empire State Building was for a 50-story office building. However, the final design was for an 86-story 1,250-foot building, with an airship mast on top, ensured it would be the world's tallest building, beating the Chrysler Building. The Empire State Building stood as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years until the completion of the World Trade Center's North Tower in Lower Manhattan in late 1970. |
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The Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft) and a roof height (excluding antenna) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since 2008. The previous tallest building was the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan. The design is derived from the Islamic architecture of the region, such as in the Great Mosque of Samarra. |
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