What are the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a listing of notable objects built between 3000 B.C. and A.D. 476. Many such lists were made by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and all included only objects made by human beings which were considered notable because of their great size or some other unusual quality. The following is a list of the seven most commonly chosen.
The pyramids of Egypt at Giza, built as tombs for Egyptian kings, are the oldest and best preserved of all the ancient wonders. Three famous pyramids there were built about 2600 to 2500 B.C. The largest pyramid, called the Great Pyramid, stands about 150 feet high. Its base occupies about 13 acres. The Greeks and the Romans marveled at the size of the pyramids. They were unaware of the religious importance of the pyramids as tombs, and considered the pyramids to be foolish extravagances of the Egyptian kings.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were probably built by King Nebuchadnezzar II for one of his wives. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from 605 to 562 B.C. Babylon was located near modern Baghdad in Iraq. Scientists have been unable to identify positively the remains of the gardens. Our information about the gardens comes from an account by Berossus, a Babylonian priest of the 200's B.C. Berossus described gardens that were laid out on a brick terrace about 100 feet square and 75 feet above the ground. In order to irrigate the flowers and trees in the gardens, slaves worked in shifts turning screws to lift water from the Euphrates River.
The Temple of Artemis of Ephesus, built about 550 B.C., was one of the largest and most complicated temples built in ancient times. It stood in the Greek city of Ephesus, on the west coast of what is now Turkey. The temple was entirely marble, except for its tile-covered wooden roof. It was dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis and was designed by the architect Chersiphron and his son, Metagenes. Its foundation measured 377 by 180 feet. It had 106 columns, about 40 feet high, in a double row around the cella (inner space). Wealthy King Croesus of Lydia donated some of the columns.
The temple burned down in 356 B.C., and another one like it was built on the same foundation. Goths burned down the second temple in A.D. 262. Only the foundation and parts of the second temple remain. The British Museum in London contains sculptures from the second temple.
The statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece, was perhaps the most famous statue in the ancient world. The Greek sculptor Phidias made it about 435 B.C. and dedicated it to Zeus, the king of the gods. The statue, 40 feet high, showed Zeus on this throne. Phidias made Zeus's robe and ornaments out of gold, and he made the god's flesh of ivory. In the statue, Zeus had a wreath around his head and held a figure of Nike, his messenger, in his right hand. He held a scepter with an eagle in his left hand. The statue no longer exists.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in what is now southwestern Turkey, was a huge, white marble tomb. It was built about 353 B.C. to hold the remains of Mausolus, a provincial rule in the Persian Empire. Its size and decorations made it so famous that all large tombs are now called mausoleums. The tomb was about 36 feet high. It had a rectangular basement beneath a colonnade formed by 36 columns. A stepped pyramid rested on the colonnade, and a statue of Mausolus in a chariot probably stood on top of the pyramid. The Greek architects Satyros and Pythios designed the tomb. Four famous Greek sculptors--Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus--carved the frieze on the building. The top part of the mausoleum was destroyed by an earthquake, and only pieces of the building and its decorations remain. The British Museum in London contains some sculptures from the mausoleum.
The Colossus of Rhodes was a huge bronze statue that stood near the harbor of Rhodes, an island in the Aegean Sea. The statue honored the sun god Helios. It stood about 120 feet tall about as high as the Statue of Liberty. The Greek sculptor Chares worked 12 years on it in the early 200's B.C. He used stone blocks and about 7 1/2 short tons of iron bars to support the hollow statue. In 224 B.C. the Colossus was destroyed by an earthquake. The metal supports were sold for scrap in A.D. 653.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, over 400 feet high, stood on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. It became so famous that the word pharos came to mean lighthouse. The lighthouse is also called the Pharos of Alexandria. The structure, completed during the reign of Ptolemy II (283-246 B.C.) from a design by the Greek architect Sostratos, rose from a stone platform in three sections. The bottom section of the lighthouse in three sections. The bottom section of the lighthouse was square, the middle eight-sided, and the top circular. A fire burning at the top of the lighthouse provided light.
When does Daylight Saving Time Begin (or end)?
Daylight Saving Time is achieved by advancing the clock one hour. On July 8, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation moving up the start of Daylight Saving Time to the first Sunday in April. Daylight Saving Time, which used to start the last Sunday in April, still ends the last Sunday in October. Some states split by time zones have exempted themselves: Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and part of Indiana do not participate in Daylight Saving Time.
When do you use "Jr." and when do you use "II" or "III"?
Though "junior" means "younger", a man uses it as part of his name only if his name is exactly the same as his father's. He does not use "junior" if his name is the same as that of any other older relative, and does not use the numeral "2nd" to distinguish him from his father, for the reason explained below.
The rule that a man does not continue to use "Jr." after the death of his father is correctly disregarded if the older man was extremely prominent and continues to be mentioned frequently in the press and elsewhere after his death. In such case, the son properly continues to used "Jr." to avoid confusion. John F. Kennedy Jr. is one such example.
The use of a number after a man's name means that he has the identical name of an older living relative other than his father. There is only one exception to this rule. If a living grandfather, father and son have the same name, the father uses "Jr." and the son uses "3rd."
What is the word for the fear of the number 13?
Fear of the number thirteen, or of having thirteen people at a table, is known as tridecaphobia, tredecaphobia, and triskaidekaphobia. Individuals who fear the number thirteen may fear any situation or event involving this number, such as a house number, floor of a building, apartment or office number, or the 13th day of the month.
What does the "D" in "D-Day" signify?
The "D" in D-Day stands for the day or date, usually secret, that a military operation is set to begin. The term was first used in World War I, as the code designation for the Allied offensive at Saint Mihiel.
Why is New York called the Big Apple?
Calling New York the "Big Apple" didn't really catch on until 1971, the year Charles Gillett, then president of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, used it as part of his campaign to boost the city's image. It was first used, however, in 1921 by horse racing reporter John J. Fitzgerald, who took the name from the Big Apple New York City racetracks. The nickname never became a part of New Yorkers' vocabulary, but jazz musicians, linked by underground connections to gamblers, took to calling New York (Harlem in particular) the "Big Apple", or just the "Apple" for short. The term had overtones of "the big time" and conveyed the excitement of Harlem and New York being the place where the greatest jazz in the world was played. In Cab Calloway's book Hi De Ho (1938), the "Big Apple" is treated as a well established term, defined as "the big town, the main stem, Harlem." According to Mr. Gillett, the "Big Apple" is the most successful city slogan in the history of tourism.
What are the Twelve Days of Christmas?
The traditional gifts of the Twelve Days of Christmas vary, but here is a chart that indicates most of the possibilities currently in use:
12 ships hunters drummers bulls ladies
a-sailing hunting drumming a-bellowing dancing
11 drums ladies pipers lords lords
a-beating leaping piping a-limping a-leaping
10 ladies tailors lords drummers
dancing stitching a-leaping drumming
9 lords fiddlers ladies wolves pipers
a-knitting fiddling dancing a-howling piping
8 bulls lords maids deer
a-roaring a-dancing a-milking a-running
7 swans swa-ans
a-swimming swimming
6 geese
a-laying
5 gold golden
rings rings
4 Cornish calling colored colley
hens birds birds birds
3 French French
hens horns
2 turtle
doves
1 partridge in a pear tree
What is the traditional gift for a wedding anniversary?
1st paper 8th bronze, pottery, 20th china
2nd cotton, calico, rubber 25th silver
straw 9th pottery, willow, 30th pearl, personal
3rd leather china, glass, items
4th flowers, fruit crystal 35th coral, jade
books, linen 10th tin, aluminum 40th ruby, garnet
silk 11th steel 45th sapphire
5th wood 12th silk, nylon 50th gold
6th sweets, iron linen 55th turquoise,
7th wool, copper, 13th lace emerald
brass, bronze 14th agate, ivory 60th diamond, gold
15th glass, crystal 75th diamond, gold
(some sources list alternative or additional items to those indicated here)
Source: The New York Public Library Public Relations Department