Great Wonders 2.0

Roman Colosseum Italy

This giant, 50,000 seat amphitheater in the center of Rome was built over 2,000 years ago, and still influences the design of sports stadiums worldwide.

Chichen Itza (Modern World)

Mexico

Panama Canal

It took 34 years to create this 50-mile-long canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The amount of digging required and the size of its locks helped make it the most expensive project in American history at that time—and the most deadly: About 80,000 people died (most from disease) during construction of the Panama Canal.

Channel Tunnel

Known as the Chunnel, the Channel Tunnel links France and England. It is 31 mi (9 m) long, and 23 of those miles are 150 ft (45.7 m) beneath the seabed of the English Channel. High-speed trains whiz through its side-by-side tubes.

Netherlands North Sea Protection Works

Because the Netherlands is below sea level, a series of dams, floodgates, and surge barriers have been built to keep the sea from flooding the country during storms. The biggest part of the Netherlands North Sea Protection Works was a two-mile-long moveable surge barrier across an estuary finished in 1986. It is made of 65 concrete piers each weighing 18,000 tons. It has been said that the project is nearly equal in scale to the Great Wall of China.

Mt. Everest (Natural World)

Mahalangur mountain range Nepal and Tibet

Grand Canyon (Natural World)

Arizona by the Colorado River United States

The Colossus at Rhodes (Ancient wonders)

Built after the city had successfully repelled a siege, the Colossus at Rhodes was a 105-foot-high bronze statue of Helios, the Greek sun god. Some renderings have the statue straddling the harbor of Rhodes, but most likely it stood to one side or even on a hill above the city. It stood upright for only 56 years until an earthquake snapped it at the knees. The ruins lay in the harbor for over 800 years and remained an ancient tourist attraction.

Itaipu Dam

Built by Brazil and Paraguay on the Paraná River, the Itaipu dam is the world's largest hydroelectric power plant. Completed in 1991, it took 16 years to build this series of dams whose length totals 7,744 m. It used 15 times more concrete than the Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France.

Taj Mahal India

Built in 1630 by a grieving emperor, Shah Jahan, in honor of his dead wife, this white marble structure combines Indian, Persian, and Islamic style of architecture.

Great Wall of China (Modern World)

China

Golden Gate Bridge

Connecting San Francisco and Marin County in 1937, for many years the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in world. Experts thought that winds, ocean currents, and fog would make it impossible to build. It took about four years to complete the beautiful 1.2-mile-long (1.9 km) bridge. It is held by 80,000 mi (128,747 km) worth of steel wire, and the cables that link the two towers are 36.5 (92.7 cm) inches in diameter—the biggest ever made.

Empire State Building

Finished in 1931, the Empire State Building towers 1,250 ft over New York City. Until the first tower of the World Trade Center was finished in 1972, it was the world's tallest building. After September 11, 2001, it once again became the tallest building in New York City. Read more on FamilyEducation: http://fun.familyeducation.com/slideshow/historic-sites/61628.html#ixzz3UH3kHPYR

CN Tower

From 1976 to 2007 (when it was surpassed by the Burj Dubai), the CN Tower was the world's tallest freestanding structure. It looms about one-third of a mile high (1,815 ft) above Toronto, Canada. A glass floor on the observation deck lets you look 1,122 ft (342 m) down to the ground.

Pyramid at Chichen Itza Mexico

The center of Mayan civilization in its day, Chichen Itza is still visible in several structures, including the pyramid of Kukulkan.

The Great Pyramids at Giza (Ancient wonders)

The only ancient wonder that still stands, the Pyramids of Egypt, are three pyramids at Giza, located outside modern Cairo. The largest pyramid, built by the pharaoh Khufu, a king of the fourth dynasty, had an original estimated height of 482 ft (now approximately 450 ft), which made it the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. The base has sides 755 ft long. It contains 2,300,000 blocks; the average weight of each is 2.5 tons. Estimated date of completion is 2680 B.C.

Machu Picchu (Modern World)

Peru

Great Barrier Reef (Natural World)

Queensland Australia

Machu Picchu Peru

This "city in the clouds" was built 8,000 feet above sea level in the 15th century by Incan emperor Pachacutec. Abandoned by the Incas, the city remained unknown until it was rediscovered by an explorer in 1911.

The Great Wall of China

This 4,160-mile wall was built to protect China from invading Huns, Mongols, and other tribes, and to unite fortifications into one defense system. Begun in the 7th century B.C., the barricade took hundreds of years to build, and ranks as the world's longest man-made structure-and is apparently the only one visible from space

Petra Jordan

This ancient capital city was built around 9 B.C. during the reign of King Aretas IV and continued to flourish during the Roman Empire. It is now visible in its pink stone ruins and carved façade.

Harbor of Rio de Janeiro (Natural World)

Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Christ the Redeemer (Modern World)

Rio de Janeiro southeastern Brazil

The Colosseum (Modern World)

Rome Italy

Christ Redeemer Statue Brazil

Standing 125 feet tall atop the Corcovado Mountain high above Rio, this statue took five years to build. Constructed in France by sculptor Paul Landowski, it was shipped to Brazil in pieces, and then carried up the mountain by train, where it was reassembled.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Ancient wonders)

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were supposedly built by Nebuchadnezzar around 600 B.C. to please his queen, Amytis of Media. They are also associated with the mythical Assyrian queen Semiramis. Archeologists surmise that the gardens were laid out atop a vaulted building, with provisions for raising water. The terraces were said to rise from 75 to 300 ft.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria (Ancient wonders)

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on the island of Pharos in the city's harbor. The tower measured between 380 and 490 ft high, making it the third-tallest building in the world (the two pyramids at Giza were the tallest). Originally, it was simply a large beacon, but was converted to a lighthouse in the 1st century B.C. It stood longer than all of the wonders save the pyramids, but was eventually destroyed by an earthquake in the 13th century.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Ancient wonders)

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was erected by Queen Artemisia in memory of her husband, King Mausolus of Caria in Asia Minor (now Turkey), who died in 353 B.C. It was eventually destroyed by earthquakes and further deconstruction by the Knights of St. John of Malta for building materials. Some remains of the structure are in the British Museum. This shrine is the source of the modern word "mausoleum."

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia (Ancient wonders)

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was made of gold and ivory by the Greek sculptor Phidias in the 5th century B.C. Legend says that the statue, reputed to be 40 ft high, was moved from Olympia to Constantinople, where it was eventually destroyed in a fire.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (Ancient wonders)

Though there had been temples on the spot for centuries, the most famous—and most lavish—version of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (in present-day Turkey) was begun about 550 B.C., and funded by Croesus of Lydia. Artemis was the goddess of fertility and the hunt. The temple, with Ionic columns 60 ft high, was destroyed by an act of arson.

Petra (Modern World)

southern Jordan

Taj Mahal (Modern World)

city of Agra India

Northern Lights aurora borealis (Natural World)

collisions of gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun northern: Norway, Scotland, Canada southern: Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia

Victoria Falls (Natural World)

on the Zambezi River border of Zambia and Zimbabwe southern Africa

Paricutin Volcano (Natural World)

state of Michoacán Mexico