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On this day...

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August 30: Constitution Day in Kazakhstan (1995); Victory Day in Turkey

1835 – European settlers landing on the north banks of the Yarra River in Southern Australia founded the city ofMelbourne (Parliament House pictured).
1862 – American Civil War: James Longstreet andStonewall Jackson led their Confederate troops to a decisive victory againstJohn Pope's Union Army at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia.
1918 – Fanny Kaplan shot and wounded Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, helping to spark the Red Terror in the future Soviet Union, a repressionagainst Socialist-Revolutionary Party members and other political opponents.
1992 – German race car driver Michael Schumacher won his first Formula One race at the Belgian Grand Prix.
1995 – Bosnian War: NATO began its bombing campaign against theArmy of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Did you know...

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From ibbjimohlearn's newest content:

Gun Hägglund hosting evening news show Aktuellt in 1958

... that Sweden's Gun Hägglund (pictured) was the world's first female TV news presenter?
... that for most of its history, Ixtonton was the most important Maya city in the upper Mopan Valley of Guatemala?
... that the largest roller derby competition ever held outside of the United States was hosted by Adelaide Roller Derby and won by the Victorian VRDL All Stars?
... that the cotton manufacturer John Horrocks is commemorated twice by St Mary's Church, Penwortham, Lancashire?
... that Kristian House did not finish first in the London – Surrey Cycle Classic but did win its King of the Mountains award?
... that, shortly before sunrise, mass spawning by sea grapes may create a green cloud?

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

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Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Main article: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the only wonder of the ancient world still in existence.

The Colosseum in Rome.

The Great Wall of China.

Hagia Sophia.

Stonehenge.

Taj Mahal.

Empire State Building.

Golden Gate Bridge.

CN Tower.

Chichen Itza.

Old City of Jerusalem.

The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.

Grand Canyon

The Great Barrier Reef.

The London sewerage system's original Abbey Mills pumping station.

Machu Picchu.

The historian Herodotus (484 – ca. 425 BCE), and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca. 305 – 240 BCE) at the Museum of Alexandria, made early lists of seven wonders but their writings have not survived, except as references. The seven wonders included:

The earliest lists had the Ishtar Gate as the seventh wonder of the world instead of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The list known today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in existence. Today, the only ancient world wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Medieval World

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some writers claimed that lists of wonders of the world have existed during the Middle Ages, although it is unlikely that these lists originated at that time because the word medieval was not invented until the Enlightenment-era, and the concept of a Middle Age did not become popular until the 16th century. Brewer's refers to them as "later list[s]"^[2] suggesting the lists were created after the Middle Ages.

Many of the structures on these lists were built much earlier than the Medieval Ages, but were well known.^[3] These lists go by names such as Wonders of the Middle Ages (implying no specific limitation to seven), Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, Medieval Mind and Architectural Wonders of the Middle Ages.

Typically representative are:^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Other sites sometimes included on such lists:

Wonders of the modern world

Many organisations have made lists of the greatest structures built during modern times, or of the greatest wonders existing today. Some of the most notable lists are presented below.

American Society of Civil Engineers

The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled a list of wonders of the modern world:^[10]

Wonder	Date started	Date finished	Location
Channel Tunnel	December 1, 1987	May 6, 1994	Strait of Dover, between the United Kingdom and France
CN Tower	February 6, 1973	June 26, 1976, tallest freestanding structure in the world 1976–2007.	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Empire State Building	January 22, 1930	May 1, 1931, Tallest structure in the world 1931–1967. First building with 100+ stories.	New York, NY, U.S.
Golden Gate Bridge	January 5, 1933	May 27, 1937	Golden Gate Strait, north of San Francisco, California, U.S.
Itaipu Dam	January 1970	May 5, 1984	Paraná River, between Brazil andParaguay
Delta Works/Zuiderzee Works	1920	May 10, 1997	Netherlands
Panama Canal	January 1, 1880	January 7, 1914	Isthmus of Panama

New7Wonders Foundation

Main article: New Seven Wonders of the World

In 2001 an initiative was started by the Swiss corporation New7Wonders Foundation to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments.^[11] Twenty-one finalists were announced January 1, 2006.^[12] Egyptians were not happy that the only surviving original wonder, the Great Pyramid of Giza, would have to compete with the likes of the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, and other landmarks, calling the project absurd. In response, Giza was named an honorary Candidate.^[13] The results were announced on July 7, 2007:^[14]

Wonder	Date of construction	Location
Great Wall of China	5th century BCE – 16th century CE	China
Petra	c.100 BCE	Jordan
Christ the Redeemer	Opened 12 October 1931	Brazil
Machu Picchu	c.1450 CE	Peru
Chichen Itza	c.600 CE	Mexico
Colosseum	Completed 80 CE	Italy
Taj Mahal	Completed c.1648 CE	India
Great Pyramid of Giza (Honorary Candidate)	Completed c.2560 BCE	Egypt

USA Today's New Seven Wonders

In November 2006 the American national newspaper USA Today in conjunction with the American television show Good Morning Americarevealed a list of New Seven Wonders as chosen by six judges.^[15] The wonders were announced one per day over a week on Good Morning America. An eighth wonder was chosen on November 24, 2006 from viewer feedback.^[16]

Number	Wonder	Location
1	Potala Palace	Lhasa, Tibet, China
2	Old City of Jerusalem	Jerusalem^{[n 1]}
3	Polar ice caps	Polar regions
4	Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument	Hawaii, United States
5	Internet	Earth
6	Mayan ruins	Yucatán Peninsula, México
7	Great Migration of Serengeti and Masai Mara	Tanzania and Kenya
8	Grand Canyon (viewer-chosen eighth wonder)	Arizona, United States

Footnotes

^ Both the USA Today article and the Good Morning America broadcast described this wonder as "Jerusalem's Old City, Israel." However states and scholars alike are divided over the legal status of Jerusalem under international law. See Positions on Jerusalem.

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On this day...

Did you know...

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Medieval World

Wonders of the modern world

American Society of Civil Engineers

New7Wonders Foundation

USA Today's New Seven Wonders

Seven Natural Wonders of the World

Seven Wonders of the Underwater World

Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

Other lists of wonders of the world

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