John McConkey, age 13, of Nampa, Idaho, for his question:
WHAT ARE THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD?
There are three separate lists of wonders of the world: the seven wonders of the ancient world; seven natural wonders of the world; and the seven wonders of the modern world. Not everyone agrees on the places mentioned on the lists, but a majority of the leading world travelers and explorers do accept the following selections.
On the list of the world's top modern wonders: the Suez Canal; Dneprogres Dam on the Dnepr River in Russia; the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, England; the Alaska or Alcan Highway; the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; the Eiffel Tower in Paris; and the Empire State Building in New York City.
Here are the seven natural wonders of the world: Mount Everest; Victoria Falls on the Rhodesia Zambia border; the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River; the Great Barrier Reef of Australia; caves in France and Spain with their prehistoric paintings; Paricutin, the young volcano in Mexico; and the harbor at Rio de Janeiro.
Experts name a few other natural wonders which many feel should also be on the list: the giant sequoia trees in California; Rainbow Natural Bridge of Utah; Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park; Crater Lake and Wizard Island in Oregon; the Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico; and the collection of beauties of nature in California's Yosemite Valley.
Ancient Greeks and Romans were the first to compile a list of the seven wonders of the world. Most of the items on this list, now called the ancient wonders, are no longer around.
Best preserved and the oldest of the ancient seven wonders are the pyramids of Egypt. The six others include the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece; the mausoleum at Halicarnassus in what is now southwestern Turkey; the Colossus of Rhodes; and the Pharos (Lighthouse) of Alexandria in Egypt.
The Colossus of Rhodes was a 120 foot statue built in the early 2000s B.C. and destroyed in the late 200s by an earthquake.
The statue of Zeus in Greece was perhaps the most famous statue in the ancient world. It was made about 435 B.C. The 40 foot statue of the king of the gods was ornamented in gold with ivory used for his flesh.
The temple of Artemis at Ephesus, built about 500 B.C., was one of the largest and most complicated buildings of ancient times. It measured 377 feet by 180 feet and had 106 marble columns, about 40 feet high, in a double row around the inner space.
The lighthouse of Alexandria was built about 270 B.C. and stood 440 feet high. A fire on top provided light.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built 75 feet above ground on a brick terrace in about 600 B.C.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb 135 feet high with a colonade formed by 36 columns that held up a stepped pyramid. On top probably stood a statue of a chariot holding Mausolus, an official of the Persian Empire.