Buildings & Structures (basic)

Pro Football of Fame

() dedicated in 19__;

Taj Mahal

(Agra, India) ("Crown of the Palace") 240' palace built from 1631-1643 on the Jumna R. by Persia's Shah Jahan, when his favorite wife (Mumtaz Mahal) died in labor with their 14th child;

Christ of the Andes

(Argentina-Chile border) built in __ by ___; ___ tall; more?

Pentagon

(Arlington, VA) about 3.7 million square feet of office space; built in the 1940s to house the Dept. of the Army;

Forbidden City

(Beijing, China) former residence of the Emperor (built 1406-1420 by the 3rd Ming Emperor); Tiananmen Square is its Southern exit;

Hoover Dam

(Black Canyon, Colorado River) formerly called the Boulder Dam; bridges Arizona and Nevada;

Golden Gate Bridge

(California) opened in 19__; 746' tall at its highest point; spans the Golden gate, a channel separating San Francisco (S) and Marin (N) Counties;

Angkor Wat

(Cambodia) world's largest religious structure; originally built to honor Vishnu (Hindu), though currently Buddhist; more?

Fort Sumter

(Charleston, SC Harbor) April 12 attack by confederates began the Civil War; surrendered Apr. 13; only 6 confederate states at the time;

Willis Tower

(Chicago, 1974) built as the Sears Tower; renamed on July 16, 2009 after British insurance group bought the naming rights; it was the tallest building from its building until 1988, when the NYC World Trade Center was built; as of 2010, depending on whether you include rooftop towers, it is the world's #5 (w/o) or #7 (with) tallest building (1451', 442 m, 110 stories); it is 22 stories more but 33' shorter than the Petronas towers; designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill;

Three Gorges Dam

(China) on the Yangtze River; largest dam in the world; displaced ___ people; completed in ___; the reservoir took ___ years to fill;

Aswan High Dam

(El Saad al Aali, Egypt) located just south of the city of Aswan in Egypt; constructed (with Soviet aid) to regulate the yearly flood of the Nile & to create a water reservoir, later named Lake Nasser; construction lasted from 1960-1970;

Uffizi, the

(Florence, Italy) Art museum, arguably 2nd only to the Louvre;

Great Sphinx

(Giza, Egypt) built c. 2558-2532 BC by King Khafra (Khufu's son) and probably a likeness of him; located on the West Bank of the Nile, near Cairo; the largest monolith statue in the world;

Petronas Towers (2)

(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 5th tallest building in world (1,483', 452 m, 88 stories); they are the tallest buildings in the world; completed in 1996; 33' taller than the Sears Tower; joined by a double deck skybridge at the 41st story;

London Bridge

(Lake Havasu City, AZ) constructed from 1176-1209 over the Thames, costing 150 lives; later moved to Arizona and replaced with a more modern version;

Westminster Abbey

(London) formerly the Abbey of St. Peter at Westminster; famous Brits buried here include Darwin & Newton (in the Nave); William Pitt; Dickens, G. Chaucer & Robert Browning (Poets Corner);

British Airways London Eye

(London) largest ferris wheel in the world; built in __;

Bolshoi

(Moscow) famous theater for opera and ballet; home to the world-famous Bolshoi opera and bellet companies; the current building was built on Theatre Square in 1824 to replace the Petrovka Theatre, which had been destroyed by fire in 1805;

Statue of Liberty

(NY) officially unveiled 10-28-1886 on Bedloe's Island; a gift from France; more?

Empire State Building

(NYC) after destruction of the Word Trade Center, it became the tallest building in NYC; 102 floors; the architect was William Lamb of Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates; construction lasted from 1930-____; located on the corner of 34th Street & 5th Avenue at 350 5th Ave, NY, NY 10118;

Guggenheim, (Solomon R.) Museum

(NYC) designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and opened in 1959; known for its circular interior walkway;

Grand Central Terminal

(NYC) world's largest railroad terminal; often incorrectly called Grand Central Station; located at the intersection of 42nd Street & Park Ave;

Eiffel Tower

(Paris) 1st structure to surpass 300 meters in height; tallest structure in the world from 1889-1930; more?

Musee d'Orsay

(Paris) art museum with the world's largest collection of Impressionists; located on the left bank of the Seine, housed in the former railway station, the Gare d'Orsay; opened 1986;

Christ the Redeemer

(Rio de Janeiro) in 1920's, Brazil's churches pooled their money to build this 120' monument on a 2300' peak overlooking Rio;

Stonehenge

(Salisbury Plain, southern England) grouping of large stones surrounded by 56 aubrey holes;

Alamo

(San Antonio, TX) means "cottonwood" in what language??; f. by Franciscan monks in 1718 as San Antonio de Valero; more info?

Alcatraz

(San Francisco Bay) federal prison open from 1934-63;

Hermitage,the

(St. Petersburg, Russia) art museum; more?

Taipei 101

(Taiwan) built in 2004; tallest building in world until 2010 (1667', 508 m, 101 floors);

CN Tower

(Toronto) at 1815', it was the tallest self-supporting structure in the world from 1975-2007; built in ___ as a TV transmission tower;

Lincoln Memorial

(Washington, DC) dedicated May 30 1922; located on the West end of the National Mall; on the South corner, the Gettysburg Address is engraved in stone; the 36 columns represent the 36 states during Lincoln's term;

Alhambra

(name means Red in Arabic?) Moorish fortress in Granada, Spain; built in __ by ___ for ___;

London Underground

(the "Tube") when its 1st section opened in 1863, it was the 1st underground railway system in the world; world's longest subway system--244 miles (391 km) long;

Channel Tunnel (Chunnel)

opened in 1994; a 31-mile tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover, running between Folkestone (U.K.--near Dover) and Sangatte (France--near Calais);