7 Wonders of the World

Background: The Hoover Dam is one of the world’s largest concrete structures and the 38th greatest producer of hydroelectric power. Built in the 1930s, it was designed to tame the Colorado River and also irrigate the dry land of Western America. The structure remains intact today, with a bypass running along the top of its [...]

Background: In the early 1500s one of the biggest problems involved in trade between Asia, Peru, Ecuador and southern America was the problem of the ships having to travel 14,000 miles around Cape Horn, rather than being able to cut directly through the isthmus better known as Panama. Plans were put forward to the King [...]

Background: Today it takes just 6 hours, a quarter of a day, to travel from the East coast of America to the West. In the 19th century, however, it could take up to six months, hopping from one train to another and taking risks along the way. At least this was the case up until [...]

Background: The 1800s was a smelly, unhygienic time for citizens of London, England. Greater London’s waste system was essentially an open sewer, with bacteria such as ‘vibrio cholerae’ causing cholera outbreaks and various other epidemics that threatened the population of the capital city. In 1958 the smell that surrounded London because of the open sewer [...]

Background: In 1870 the New York Borough of Manhattan was largely populated and in danger of overcrowding. The borough of Brooklyn, however, which was located just over the East River, occupied a much larger area and was only populated with around 400,000 people. The obvious choice was to encourage growth outside of Manhattan, into Brooklyn, [...]

Background: For centuries sailors who sailed around Arbroath, Eastern Scotland were terrified of becoming shipwrecked on what was known as ‘Bell Rock’. This rock was actually an underwater reef, invisible from the surface of the water until the Bell Rock Lighthouse was built upon it in 1807. Its construction wasn’t finished for three years, but [...]

Background: Between 1854 and 1858, construction on the SS Great Eastern (also known briefly as ‘Leviathan’) was ongoing. This gigantic ship was intended for commercial use, to sail from Britain to Australia without needing to stop once to refuel. Her mass was five times as large as the biggest ships around at the time, and [...]