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Construction began on this stunning church over one hundred years ago in 1882. Despite continuous construction, it is only about halfway finished today! If all goes as planned, the building could be complete as soon as 2026, the one hundredth anniversary of the death of the church's chief architect who dedicated most of his life to the design and construction of this ornate building.

The church was born of a desire to protect and strengthen Christianity during a time when people were beginning to lose the faith amid the prosperity brought on by the country's Industrial Revolution. The church, originally located more than a mile from the city, is now in the heart of the second largest city on the Iberian Peninsula. In 1992, this city had the honor of hosting the Olympics, allowing the city to show the world its rich culture, numerous museums, and modern architecture.

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Construction began on this church in 1883 as a memorial to an assassinated leader. The exterior design was inspired by St. Basil's Cathedral in the current capital city[,] and the interior is covered in over eighty thousand square feet of mosaics-more than any other church in the world.

The church was built in "The City of Three Hundred Bridges" which was designed to be the "Gateway to Europe." In its three hundred year history, the city has been known by two different names, in honor of a patron saint and a former leader. Today the city is home to almost five million people, making it the second largest city in the country and the northernmost city of its size. It is also a major cultural center with world-renowned ballets, operas, and orchestras.

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This unsteady looking bell tower has actually been standing for over eight hundred years. Perhaps its good fortune is due, in part, to the fact that it was built in the Field of Miracles. Construction began on this tower in 1173, but after only five years, it became obvious that something was not right. With only three floors of the tower completed, construction was stopped for almost one hundred years. Architects hoped that by allowing the ground beneath the tower to settle, they would be able to prevent the tower from toppling over. Four additional floors, built on an angle to make the tower appear to be more vertical, were added by 1284 when the locals were defeated in a battle with the Genoans. It wasn't until 1372 that the tower was complete when the belfry was added to the top level.

Today, this bell tower is one of the most popular tourist sites in a boot-shaped European country famous for its pasta and cheeses. Although temporarily closed because of fear the structure was nearing collapse, the tilt has been corrected by almost a foot. This should keep the tower safe from collapse for another 300 years.

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The iron giant seen here sees more visitors than any monument in the world, around six million per year. It is surprising that the world finds this tower so fascinating-it was almost torn down in 1909, until it found use supporting an antenna for telegraph transmissions.

The tower, which bears the name of the engineer who designed it, was built in 1889 as an entrance to the World's Fair. From the time it was built until the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1930, it was the tallest structure in the world. Many citizens of the "City of Lights" opposed its construction, calling it an eyesore and a disgrace to the city. Today, however, it is considered one of the world's greatest architectural designs. My, how things have changed!

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The mountain in the distance is the treasure of the city of almost three million which lies at its feet. The city was originally developed as a refueling point for ships sailing from Europe to India in the 1600s. Today it is the legislative capital city, and the third largest city, in a country which claims three capital cities-one for each branch of the government: executive, judicial, and legislative. The city is the economic center for its province, but has also developed a thriving tourism industry, largely due to the mountain seen here. Locals say that it is one of the most spiritual places on Earth and attribute the mountain's presence to the laid back atmosphere in the city, where many people have adopted a slower pace of life which has come to be known as "Africa time."

While there are as many as three hundred fifty different paths to reach the top of this mountain, six hundred thousand visitors each year choose to ride the cableway to the summit. The cableway was built in 1929 and comfortably carries passengers up nearly three thousand five hundred feet in only four to five minutes. When you arrive at the top, you will find yourself in a unique environment. The mountain is home to several species of plants and animals which are found nowhere else on Earth, namely the Ghost Frog and Silver Tree. One of the most common animals seen on the mountain is the local dassies, or rock hyrax. The animals, similar to a rabbit that has short ears and a long tail, are quite friendly and will often approach visitors in search of a bite to eat.

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The city seen in this picture is, historically, one of the most important in the world for the study of time and space. The Royal Observatory was built here in 1675 to study the nighttime sky for the purpose of improving maritime navigation. It was the hope of the Observatory that sailors could one day determine their exact position at sea based solely on the position of the stars. After a disaster at sea in the early 18th century, the government felt compelled to offer a reward, equivalent to about two million dollars in current dollars, to anyone who could find a way to determine longitude at sea. After almost sixty years, John Harrison claimed the prize when he made a clock that was capable of keeping accurate time, despite changes in temperature, pressure, and humidity. His fourth design was used to sail to the Caribbean island of Jamaica and was remarkably only two miles off the true location.

In 1884, this city became the official basis for world time when twenty-five nations voted that this city should be the location of the line marking zero degrees longitude. After the decision was made, a strip of metal-first brass, and now stainless steel-has marked the line for the world to see. Although the old system of keeping time has been replaced by a more accurate method, the city maintains the metal strip despite the fact that it is technically one hundred meters off the true mark.

The city constructed the world's largest dome, seen in the distance in the picture above, to hold a celebration of the beginning of the third millennium. Although more than six million visitors came to the dome in its first year, the exhibit was closed on December 31, 2000, and has seen very little use since then. Current plans are to reopen the dome as a site for sporting events, with the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships and several events of the 2012 Summer Olympics already scheduled.

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This is the site of one of the world's most famous beaches, located on America's fiftieth state. In the distance you can see a majestic mountain, jutting out toward the ocean. The mountain is actually an extinct volcanic tuff cone, formed by a series of volcanic eruptions which created a crater at the top of the mountain that is more than one-half mile in diameter. It was originally called Le'ahi, which means "the brow of the tuna," in the native tongue, but it is now know by a name given by British sailors in the 1800s. As the sailors approached the island, they saw calcite crystals in the lava sparkling in the sun and assumed that the soil was filled with gemstones which many believe to be "a girl's best friend."

This volcanic crater is one of the most famous features on the island, called "The Gathering Place," and is only minutes away from the state capital. More than one million people each year come to climb the mountain and see the beautiful panoramic views from the top.

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What is this strange beast laying before you in the desert? The head, at least what is left of it, appears human, but the body is that of an animal. Four paws and even a tail are still visible, thanks to years of protection by being buried under the sand. Today this statuesque creature is slowly being restored in an attempt to bring it back to its former glory before the wind, humidity, and smog from the nearby city of Cairo destroy it forever.

The monument sits in a quarry as a part of an ancient complex which includes several temples. In the distance, massive tombs, perhaps the region's most famous landmarks, stand as a reminder of the great civilization that made its home here more than four thousand years ago.

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You are looking at one of the many canals that run through this city on the Adriatic Sea. The town is built on an archipelago of more than one hundred twenty islands that are connected by almost four hundred bridges. Although more traditional forms of transportation have made their way to the northern edge of the city, automobiles are not an option in a majority of the city-making this place the largest car-free zone on the continent! More than one hundred fifty canals run through the city, essentially becoming the city's streets. Vaporetti, motorized water buses, run regular routes around the city and serve as the city's public transportation. Gondolas were the traditional mode of transportation throughout the city's history, but they are now usually reserved for tourists and special occasions such as weddings or funerals.

The city was founded during the fifth century, although it did not begin to flourish for almost four hundred years. Due to its position on the sea, the city became an important trade center and was the birthplace of a great explorer who is best remembered for his book detailing his family's journey to India and China, The Travels of Marco Polo.

Today this city which was built on a series of underwater woodpiles is gradually sinking under its own weight and poor planning. Rising sea levels further aggravate the problem. During the twentieth century, the city fell approximately nine inches into the sea, flooding basements and sending the city's residents higher and higher in their multi-level homes. A three billion dollar plan has been developed to save the city, at least temporarily. The plan calls for a series of barriers to be built on the sea bed that will "part the sea" and shelter the city from flooding due to high tides and takes its name from a biblical figure that famously parted the Red Sea.

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To see this view of this city of sails, you will have to hop on a ferry on the mainland, or perhaps from Waiheke Island. This city boasts the highest number of boats per capita than any other city in the world-1 boat for every 11 residents! Citizens of this country, who share a nickname with a local bird and a furry fruit grown in the area, are known for their love of the outdoors and willingness to try anything in the name of adventure. In fact, the tower in the distance, the tallest in the southern hemisphere, is a popular site for base jumping. The country's mild but diverse climate makes it perfect for adventure sports. In this small country, about the size of California, you can go sailing, glacier climbing, hiking in the rainforest, hot air ballooning, or zorbing, just to name a few. It is still a largely agricultural nation, with sheep outnumbering people 12 to 1, so don't expect an abundance of nightlife, especially in the south...but if you are seeking an adventure in Middle-earth , you've come to the right place.

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You are looking at the world's oldest, and arguably most famous, house of collectibles. It was once a royal palace, built to defend the city against invaders from the north. The original building was destroyed in the 16th century to make room for a grand new gallery. Today the museum is the largest in the world, with additions commissioned by almost every ruler through the mid-nineteenth century. Its most recent addition was a geometric glass and metal structure designed by a world-famous New York architect. The museum saw over 7 million visitors in 2005, 1 of every 4 to visit the capital city where it is located, although part of the draw is the attention brought by a bestselling novel and its subsequent movie.

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The possibilities are endless in this "Marvelous City." With its dramatic mountains and beautiful beaches luring people outdoors, there is an activity to suit everyone. Near the beach you can play beach volleyball, beach football (soccer in the United States), or Matkot-a type of beach tennis. You can go surfing, kite surfing, hang gliding, sailing, or rowing, or you can participate in Capoeira, a combination of dance and martial arts which [that] is popular in this country. If you are drawn to Sugar Loaf or the statue Cristo Redentor atop Corcovado Mountain for their spectacular views the city, you can head to the mountains by train or cable car or you can trek up the mountain on foot or by bicycle. The many granite mountains of this city make it ideal for rock climbing, and there are many climbs that can be done within the city limits.

In the past, the city has been both a Portuguese colonial capital and a national capital but is now content as its nation's second largest city. In January and February, the local population swells to accommodate many more than the eleven million that currently live in the metropolitan area. In January, up to three million people visit the city to celebrate the New Year by watching the fireworks display on Copacabana Beach. Thousands of the visitors are of the Candomble religion and can be seen singing, dancing, and making offerings to Iemanja, the Goddess of the Sea, prior to the stroke of midnight. The city heats up again for four days in February with the celebration of Carnival. It is the world's largest Carnival celebration and has been celebrated here since 1723. The city celebrates with parades, ornate costumes, and lots of singing and dancing, including a samba parade featuring thousands of bedazzling dancers.

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These waterfalls lie on the border of two nations, with each nation claiming a portion of the falls as their own. The falls have been attracting visitors since the early 1820s-many of them honeymooners and thrill seekers. In 1829, Sam Patch became the first known person to survive a jump over the falls. His feat sparked an interest that still continues today, although laws in both countries attempt to prevent this kind of dangerous stunt. Although the most popular method of going over the falls seems to be in a barrel, those seeking fame must try increasingly dangerous stunts to get their place in history-including a successful 2003 attempt to go over the falls without a flotation device.

Over twenty million people come to the falls each year, from Buffalo in the south and Toronto in the north. In addition to bringing in tourism dollars, the falls also are capable of generating over four million gigawatts of electric power by diverting water away from the falls in the nighttime hours and during the winter.

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This luminous sailboat in the distance serves as a beacon to welcome wealthy expatriates who flock to this region, the most populous of the seven that make up this coastal desert nation. In reality, the "sailboat" is hotel-the tallest in the world-and one of the world's most expensive. This region prides itself in its opulence, and has several extreme projects in the works. All are extremely rare, extremely exclusive, and extremely expensive. A massive tower is expected to open in 2008, making it the tallest building in the world. A pair of real estate ventures are almost complete-both are a multitude of manmade islands, created out of sand and formed in unique but recognizable shapes-one is a tree that is commonly found in the area, the other allows you to buy your own little corner of the Earth.

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The complex in front of you is a galactic airport where highly trained travelers leave the safety of home for worlds unknown. It is located on a small island just off the Atlantic coastline of a southern state. Thousands of visitors come here every year to watch the sight of shuttles and rockets being launched into orbit.

Plans for this site began in 1961, during the height of the great space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. To win the race and be the first to put a man on the moon, a site needed to be built which would be the base of operations for the lunar landing program. The site was originally named the Launch Operations Center, but was renamed within two years to honor the assassinated president whose belief in the importance of the program helped to make the dream of setting foot on the moon possible.

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This picture was taken in the capital city of a country which was the home of one of the world's most famous poets. The clock that you are looking at is one of the country's most famous landmarks. It gets its name from the 13 ton bell inside the clock which was named for Commissioner Benjamin Hall who ordered the casting of the bell.

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This beautiful lake is truly a sight to be seen. The lake and the area around it sit high in a mountain range that is a part of the "Ring of Fire" and has been the Beaver State's only national park since the park was dedicated in 1902. At almost two thousand feet in depth, it is the deepest lake in the United States and seventh deepest lake in the world. This lake is unique in that it is fed almost entirely by the forty-five feet of snow that falls here each year; there are no rivers which feed into the lake. As a result, the water in the lake is among the clearest and purest in the world.

The lake is actually a caldera, a crater created by the collapse of a volcano. Scientists believe that the crater was created approximately seven thousand years ago after the massive eruption of Mount Mazama, believed to be one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the past ten thousand years. The eruption is thought to have spread ash more than seven hundred miles, covering parts of six current U.S. states. After the eruption, the magma chamber was empty, and upper portion of Mount Mazama collapsed under its own weight, creating a caldera that was four thousand feet deep and six miles wide. As time passed, water from melting snow began to fill the crater. It is believed that the current water level in the lake was achieved within seven hundred to fifteen hundred years after Mount Mazama's eruption. Now the rate of precipitation is approximately equal to the evaporation rate, maintaining the lake at its current level.

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At the world's oldest National Park, this eruption is an everyday occurrence. Actually, it happens approximately every ninety-four minutes. This geyser regularly shoots over four thousand gallons of boiling water up to one hundred eighty feet in the air. Although the timing isn't perfectly predictable, over two million visitors come to watch this geyser every year.

The National Park sits atop the massive crater of an ancient volcano. Volcanic activity is still present today. The park records over two thousand earthquakes per year and with approximately three hundred geysers, it is easy to see the evidence of the molten rock as close as two miles beneath the surface.

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You are looking down at the oldest city in this Caribbean island nation. Sitting at the base of the country's famous twin peaks on the southwest end of the island, the city's brightly colored buildings make a sharp contrast to the dense jungle and black sand beaches which surround it.

The island is a member of the Windward Islands and became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1979. The country's main source of income is from the sale of bananas and the tourism industry, with around three hundred thousand tourists coming each year to see the island's unspoiled beauty. With some of the best dive sites in the Caribbean and the best fishing in the world, many of the island's attractions are actually offshore. The island claims to have the world's only drive in volcano, one of the most popular attractions on the island, just minutes from the town shown above.

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This cemetery has become the final resting place for more than three hundred thousand of America's national heroes. Presidents, astronauts, Supreme Court justices, authors, and war veterans have all been interred here in honor of their service to the United States of America. The cemetery was born out of necessity during the Civil War when the number of casualties became so great that hospitals and local cemeteries were unable to find a place to bury the dead. Union General Montgomery Meigs recommended that the grounds of Arlington House, an estate held by a descendent of Martha Washington and the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, be used as a national cemetery. The situation was so severe that burials began almost immediately after General Meigs made his proposal. By the end of the war, less than two years later, sixteen thousand men had been buried in this new national cemetery.

Although this is not the largest national cemetery, it is possibly, the most well known, largely due to its location. The cemetery sits along the banks of the Potomac River near the geometric government offices of the Armed Forces. The cemetery receives more than four million visitors each year, with one of the most popular sites being the tomb dedicated to all of the unknown soldiers who lost their lives in service to their country. The cemetery also has memorials to those who died aboard the USS Maine, the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and in the September 11th attack on a building only minutes away.

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In front of you is the largest free-standing mountain in the world; its summit is just over nineteen thousand feet. The mountain, which is actually made up of three separate extinct volcanoes, is located near the Indian Ocean, just two-hundred five miles from the equator. The mountain's tropical location makes it possible to climb year round with temperatures averaging 85ºF at the base and below freezing at the icy summit. More than eleven thousand ambitions climbers attempt to scale the mountain each year. Because of the extreme changes in elevation, climbers are urged to take their time climbing the mountain to allow the body to adjust to changes in oxygen levels to avoid altitude sickness. Successful climbers are greeted at the top by a sign, printed only in English, which congratulates them and welcomes them to this special place.

The mountain has been drawing attention lately by climatologists who have been studying the rapid disintegration of the glaciers near the mountains summit. During the last one hundred years, the volume of the ice caps on the mountain has decreased by approximately eighty percent. At the current melting rate, the ice will be completely melted as soon as the year 2025. Based on studies of the current ice core, the mountain has not been free of ice for eleven thousand years. The impact of the loss of the ice caps will be significant. Many local towns and villages depend on the water from the ice on this mountain to help them to survive during times of drought.

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When Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer, arrived in 1541, this state was occupied by many Indian tribes. Some villages had populations as large as fifty thousand. The Indians hunted bison, deer, bear, and small animals that were native to the land and grew corn, squash, pumpkins, and beans near their villages. Although the Spanish explorers did not settle on the land and were only passing through the area, many people believe that the explorers carried European diseases with them which caused many of the Indians to become very sick or die. In any case, something caused the native population to dwindle. When the French explorer Robert La Salle arrived here in 1682, he observed that there were only a few Indians remaining in the area. The French explorers were very friendly to the Indians, and they began to trade goods between each other. The Indians showed the French people how to live in this new land. In 1686, the French set up a town along the Mississippi River. The town was the site of the only battle of the Revolutionary War that was fought west of the Mississippi River. The Indians protected the town and won the battle.

The land was traded between France and Spain for several years before it was sold to the United States as a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. After becoming a part of the United States, people began moving into the area, building cabins and towns along the rivers and near the Indian trails. Eventually, the settlers began forcing the Indians away from their land and sending them to Indian reservations to live on land that the settlers did not want.

In 1836, this territory became the twenty-fifth state of the United States. By 1860, almost half-a-million people lived here, although one-fourth of the population was slaves working on cotton plantations near the Mississippi River. After the Civil War began, this state joined the Confederacy, and several battles were fought on the state's soil, including battles at Helena, Jenkin's Ferry, Devil's Backbone, Cane Hill, Prairie Grove, and Pea Ridge.

Today, "The Natural State" is recognized as the birthplace of America's forty-second president, William Jefferson Clinton, and the famous legal writer John Grisham. The state is also the place where the ivory-billed woodpecker was recently spotted. The bird had been thought to be extinct for sixty years before one was spotted on the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in 2004.

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Hold on to your hats! This swinging contraption just became the tallest in the world of its kind. It's located in a downtown amusement park in the capital city of a peninsular country which includes over 400 islands. The amusement park opened over 150 years ago and remains a delicate balance of a quiet city park and bustling carnival. There are many activities at the park. A Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and an arcade (along with the flying star pictured above) are combined with the flowers from over 100,000 bulbs which are planted in the park-but perhaps the most popular reason to visit the park is for the music. Each year around 100 free concerts are presented in the park. It has its own concert hall which remains open year round, even though the park is only open for just over 4 months of the year. Within the walls of the concert hall, such greats as Stravinsky and Count Basie, as well as many others, have held performances.

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This is the view from Zabriskie Point near the eastern edge of a desert region which receives an average of only two inches of rain each year. It was established as a national park in 1933 and remains the largest national park in the contiguous United States. The park spans the border of two southwestern states and is almost completely surrounded by mountains. The mountains on the western border prevent virtually all rainfall from passing into the desert. Because the area receives so little rainfall, the air is very dry. Low humidity, in combination with high temperatures, causes any water on the surface to evaporate quickly. In fact, the rate of evaporation in this desert is seventy-seven times the rate of precipitation!

This area was made famous in the late 1800's by its twenty mule team wagon trains, used to haul a multi-purpose mineral which was mined in the area. This mineral, considered to be "white gold," has been used over the years as a glaze for pottery, a food preservative, an antiseptic, and most famously as a laundry detergent. Although the mine was closed in 1890 because of the grueling one hundred and sixty-five mile journey to the nearest railroad, Borax detergent still advertises the twenty mule teams which were made famous in this desert.

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You are looking into what is possibly America's most famous natural landmark. Almost five million people come here each year to hike, sightsee, and camp. More adventurous travelers can ride a horse or mule down to the bottom of the canyon or go whitewater rafting on the river that flows through it. A river has carved a two hundred and seventy- seven mile path into the rock on its way from the Rockies to the Gulf of California. Over many years, some say up to forty million, the river has eroded the rock, wearing it down so that the river now lies as much as six thousand feet below the canyon rim. The canyon, now a national park, covers over nineteen hundred square miles of land. It is a protected home for a variety of endangered fish, birds, and plants, as well as eighty- seven species of mammals, many of them rodents.

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These cars driving along Route 93 just crossed over the tallest concrete arch dam in the United States. Before the dam was built, melting snow from the Rocky Mountains would sometimes cause the Colorado River to overflow its banks. Downstream farms were threatened and crops were destroyed by occasional flooding while upstream farms were difficult to sustain because of limited water supplies. A commission was formed in 1922 to discuss the building of a dam along the Colorado River and how to fairly distribute the accumulated water among six neighboring states. The commission was headed by Calvin Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, a man who would soon become president himself, and who is also the namesake of the dam.

Construction of the dam took almost five years to complete and cost forty-nine million dollars. In addition to preventing flooding and providing irrigation for upstream farmland, the dam also serves as a hydroelectric power plant which produces enough electricity to power over one million homes. The water that is retained by the dam has created Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the United States. An oasis in a dry, desert-like environment, Lake Mead is a popular spot for boating, fishing, and swimming and sees more than eight million visitors each year.

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Although there are over nine hundred of these rock formations on the island, the one shown here is undoubtedly the most famous. While no one knows exactly why these rings of stone were built, crowds currently gather twice a year at these rocks to watch the sun rise (in the summer) and set (in the winter). On the solstices, the sun is perfectly aligned with the rock formations-an amazing feat when you consider that these stones were set in place over three thousand years ago.

Almost nothing is known about the people who built this site, but much has been learned about the construction process. It has been determined that the site was built in four stages within a span of fifteen hundred years. In the first stage, a large circular ditch, or henge, was dug. The circle had a diameter of three hundred and twenty feet and had only one entrance. Around the perimeter of the henge were fifty-six holes which were found to contain cremated human remains. At the center of the circle was a wooden sanctuary. The circle aligned with the sunrise of the summer solstice, the sunset of the winter solstice, and the most northerly setting and southerly rising of the moon.

During the second stage, the wooden sanctuary was replaced by two circles of bluestones. The circles were formed using eighty different bluestones, some weighing as much as four tons, which were brought to the site from a distance of almost two hundred and fifty miles. In addition to the smaller bluestones, a thirty-five ton "Heel Stone" was placed just outside of the bluestone circles.

In the third stage, the bluestones were taken down and replaced with the large Sarsen stones that still stand today. On average, each of the stones was eighteen feet in height and weighed over twenty-five tons! It is estimated that more than five hundred men would have had to help move each of the stones.

In the final stage, sixty of the previously used bluestones were placed in circular patterns inside the large Sarsen stone circles. Although the site has not been intentionally changed for over three thousand years, many of the stones have been broken or removed.

Today the site is located in the largely unpopulated region of Salisbury, more than eighty miles from the nations' capital city. Despite its remote location, the site manages to bring in almost three-quarters of a million visitors each year. Not bad for a bunch of rocks!

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This pyramid, "the castle," is just one part of a large archaeological site that was a major city almost fifteen hundred years ago. It is believed that two groups of people, the Mayans and the Toltecs, called this city their home. The city included a marketplace, a plaza, a church, and an observatory, as well as a ball court, a temple for sacrifices, and a sinkhole which provided water for the people. The pyramid has four sides, each with ninety-one stairs; the four sets of stairs combine with the platform at the top to equal 365 three hundred sixty-five stairs-one for each day of the year. In addition, at sunrise and sunset on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun casts the shadow of a serpent moving down the pyramid toward the sinkhole. The observatory, used to study the sun, moon, and stars, provides further evidence of the Mayans' and Toltecs' interest in astronomy. Today this former city is one of the most popular in this south of the border country, seeing almost three million visitors each year.

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You are looking at the skyline of a northwestern city famous for its rainy weather and devotion to coffee. Although it is not the capital city, it is the largest city in the Evergreen State. The city is sheltered by mountains on its east and west and sits between a freshwater lake and Puget Sound, making the city a nature lover's paradise.

The tall, futuristic-looking tower shown in the picture was built for the 1962 World's Fair-its theme was "Century 21." The tower was built in less than a year, with construction crews working twenty-four hours a day to ensure that the structure was finished in time for the fair. A hole was dug thirty feet into the ground to guarantee that the tower would be able to withstand the earthquakes which frequently shake this city, built on top of an active fault line. It took an army of concrete trucks an entire day to fill the hole with the concrete that became the base of the tower. Today, the top of the tower features an observation deck which provides breathtaking views of the city and the mountains in the distance, a gift shop, and restaurant which slowly rotates to ensure that each customer has the best view in the city.

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This suspension bridge turned seventy years old in 2007. Construction of the bridge provided a northern passage into the "City by the Bay," making it the world's longest for just over twenty-five years. Today, the bridge is still the seventh longest in the world and the second longest in the United States. The bridge has withstood storms and earthquakes, closing only three times in its seventy years. Its crossings total almost forty million per year and generate over eighty million dollars in transportation revenue. This gateway bridge is the city's most famous landmark, although the abandoned federal prison on an island in the Bay is a close second.

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The city pictured here is one of the most diverse cities in the world, both in its industries and its people. Its port is one of the busiest in the world, handling almost two hundred billion dollars in trans-Pacific cargo each year. The city is the largest manufacturing center in the United States, but fashion, entertainment, and media production are also very important to the city's economy. Entertainment options vary from art museums to star tours and the city's mild climate makes it perfect for sports-at least eight professional sports teams call this city home. Despite its busy port, manufacturing facilities, and oil fields, the city has a reputation for glitz and glamour. The city has become the world's stage and people come here from all over the world to make their mark and make a name for themselves. If you can see through this tinsel town, you will find that it is a city with a rich culture and a remarkable history.

At the center of the city is Hancock Park, an area where tar from the petroleum rich ground has made its way to the surface and sits in sticky, black pools. Thousands of fossils have been found in the tar, some of them dating back to the last ice age, forty thousand years ago. One of the most common fossils found in the tar is that of a type of saber-toothed cat. Mammoths, a type of prehistoric elephant, wolves, bears, vultures, and condors have also been found fossilized in the tar along with many different reptiles, insects, and plants. Only one human skeleton has ever been found in the tar. The skeleton was from a young, Native American woman who lived approximately nine thousand years ago. Her fractured skull has led some to believe that the woman may have been the victim of the city's first recorded murder.

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The area seen here is quite possibly the most natural place on Earth. This place, in combination with Kluane and Wrangell/St. Elias, is the largest continuous area in the world where roads have not been built. Sheltered from human contact, it is altered only by Mother Nature. Despite the lack of human contact, the landscape changes quickly and dramatically here. The "river of ice" in the picture is a remnant of "The Little Ice Age," which reached its peak around 1750. Massive amounts of snow accumulated and packed together under its own weight, creating a glacier. Over time, gravity pulls the glacier down the face of the mountain toward the bay below. Warmer temperatures and light snow accumulation at the top of the glacier cause the glacier to "retreat," or shrink in size. During times of colder temperatures and heavy snow accumulation, the glacier "advances" and becomes larger. In 1794, a glacier in this area was found that was more than four thousand feet thick, twenty miles wide, and over one hundred miles in length from the St. Elias mountains to the bay.

This area is part of a national park of the same name. It is located in a state in which four percent of the land mass is composed of ice. The park contains sixteen tidewater glaciers-most of which regularly "calve" icebergs into the bay. This happens when a large piece of ice breaks off the glacier and falls in the bay. Some of these icebergs are small, while some of them are very large-large enough to cause damage to ships sailing in the icy waters of the bay.

Today, the area is frequently visited by scientists and nature-lovers. Scientists come to study plants and animals establishing themselves in an essentially new environment as ice melts and reveals the land beneath it. Nature-lovers come to see the unspoiled beauty of the land and the wildlife that makes its home in this place. On land, it is common to find bears, moose, deer, wolves, beaver, otters, and fox. In the sea you will find several species of whales, seals, sea otters, porpoises, and sea lions. It is one of the few places on Earth where humans have not changed the habitat of the local wildlife.

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You are looking at the remains of lost city, built over 550 years ago by an Indian civilization. The city is built high in the mountains of a South American constitutional republic that still counts Quechua, the language of the Indian people who built this site, as one of its two national languages.

This site is in such a remote location that it was 1911 before it was known to the outside world. It is believed to have been empty for almost 500 years, deserted shortly after Spanish conquistadors conquered a nearby city in 1533. Despite its remote location, over 500,000 visitors from all over the world visit this place every year to see its beauty and the amazing craftsmanship of the people who built this city so long ago.

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You are looking at the inside of what was once a grand amphitheatre. It was built in the first century A.D. by an intelligent leader who wanted to give something back to the people, who had endured starvation, disease, and the burning of the city under the reign of the country's most infamous ruler. At the center of the amphitheatre was a wooden floor which was surrounded by many levels of seating, enough to hold up to 50,000 spectators. Although all were welcome, seating was based on class: women and commoners were forced to sit at the top level while dignitaries and upper class citizens took seats in the lowest level, with a view so up-close and personal that it is thought that nets were put up to shield these important citizens from the blood that would often splatter from the "games" below. The games continued for almost 500 years before being outlawed completely. It was then that the amphitheatre began its decline. Marble was removed for use in other building projects, and several earthquakes caused the collapse of a portion of the exterior walls. Today, this colossal wonder is visited by almost 3 million visitors per year.

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The memory of this man is enshrined forever in this marble carving that is 19 feet tall. He is most famously known for his dedication to unity for the divided country which he led and his belief that all men were entitled to the same rights, regardless of race or national origin. Today, he sits in a building modeled after a Greek temple which was dedicated 57 years after his untimely death. From his chair, he has a view of a serene pool of water and a monument dedicated to the "Father of Our Country."

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This lake, its country's "Sacred Sea," is the largest, deepest, and oldest freshwater lake in the world. The lake holds twenty percent of the fresh water found on Earth, an amount approximately equal to the volume of water held in all five of the United States' Great Lakes. More than three hundred rivers and streams flow into the lake and underground hot springs add additional fresh water to the lake bottom and add valuable oxygen to the deepest parts of the lake, bringing to life an area which would otherwise be uninhabitable by most aquatic life forms.

The lake, located in a region of the world's largest country that is famous for its extreme cold, is extremely clear and pure and is home to more than two thousand different species of plants and animals, including the nerpa seal, the world's only freshwater seal. During the winter, temperatures drop to around -30ºF and the entire surface of the lake freezes to a depth of approximately three feet, before the ice begins to melt in April. Strong winds are common year-round on the lake, which is located in a basin and surrounded by mountains. Winds blow over the mountaintops and are channeled into the valleys which carry water into the lake. The winds increase in speed in the valleys as they approach the lake and often blow over the lake at near-hurricane force speeds. Because of the many valleys and rivers surrounding the lake, these strong winds are common during all seasons and blow in many different directions.

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This is one of America's most beautiful states. This state began as a Russian colony after it was discovered by Vitus Bering in 1741. The land was home to many animals, and the Russians began hunting many of the animals for their fur. After only a few years, there were fewer animals to hunt ,and the Russians were not as interested in the land as they had been in the past. In 1867, the United States purchased this land from Russia at a price of just over twelve cents per acre. Many believed that William Seward, the man who had organized the sale, had made a terrible mistake and had wasted over seven million dollars of the United States government's money. The state became known as "Seward's Folly."

In 1880, gold was discovered in the city that would become the state's capital. With the discovery of gold, people began to rethink the idea of this place being "Seward's Folly." People started to pack up their families and belongings to move here in hopes of striking it rich during the gold rush. Not long after the gold rush began, oil was discovered in this state, although the amounts discovered were small until the first major oil discovery in Prudhoe Bay in 1968. Oil is now the state's biggest resource; more than twenty-five percent of the oil produced in the United States comes from this state.

It wasn't until 1959 that the territory became the forty-ninth state. While the land is valuable for the oil that it holds, the natural beauty of the state draws thousands of visitors each year. Because the land is still largely undeveloped, the state's majestic mountains, glaciers, and wildlife, along with the spectacular and mysterious "Northern Lights," create some of the most beautiful scenes on Earth.

Where in the United States is this place?

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In this island nation, the climate might be what you would call "extreme." Although more than eleven percent of the country's surface is covered in glaciers, the country has more high temperature activity than anywhere else in the world. There is a major volcanic eruption every five years, on average. In addition, more than eight hundred hot springs, steam vents, geysers, and mud pools are found all over the island; as a result almost eighty percent of the country is uninhabitable. While many would find all of this activity alarming, this country has harnessed the power lying beneath its own soil and uses it to meet almost all of its energy needs. Ninety percent of homes in this prosperous country are heated by geothermal energy.

The country frequents the top of economic and environmental rankings, and a 2006 study named it the happiest country in the world. With an unemployment rate around two percent, a high level of education, pollution-free environment, and a life expectancy that is among the highest in the world, there's not much to complain about!

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Where's the beach? This plain is what was left behind after an ancient lake dried up more than ten thousand years ago. At more than four thousand square miles, this is the largest place of its kind in the world-more than twenty-five times the size of a similar place in the United States which has become famous for setting some of the world's fastest land speed records. Located at twelve thousand feet, near the crest of the Andes mountains, the harsh environment keeps most plants and animals away; however, there are a few hills which contain "fertile" soil in which a variety of cactuses can be found. In addition, November brings a splash of pink as flamingoes have adopted the place as a breeding ground.

Aside from tourism, this place specializes in the export of the world's favorite flavor enhancer. More than ten billion tons of the stuff is just sitting there, waiting to be mined. It is so plentiful that they even built a hotel out of it!

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You are looking at a former mission church-the site of a thirteen day battle which played an important role in the Lone Star State's battle for independence. The church, built in 1724, served as the home to missionaries and their Indian converts before being closed by the Spanish government over seventy years later. In the early 1800s, the former church served as a military station for several different groups of fighters during two separate wars for independence.

During the second revolution, this building gained everlasting fame when it became the site of an epic battle where a tiny army of one hundred eighty-eight men took on the much larger army of Santa Anna. Although all of the men were defeated by Santa Anna's army, including the famed Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, their unwavering sacrifice became the battle cry for the remainder of the war.

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