I Swear It's Not Too Late Trivia Quiz

Stonehenge ended up on the block when owner and heir, Edmund Altrobus, passed away and his brother put it up for auction. Sir Cecil Herbert Henry Chubb will forever be known as the man who saved Stonehenge. On September 21, 1915 he purchased the monument for £6,600 at the Salisbury auction. Fearing that the historic monument would fall into the hands of a wealthy foreigner who would dismantle and ship it elsewhere, Chubb made the purchase. In 1918 Chubb passed "the gift" onto public ownership. Sadly, the beautiful and mysterious monument fell into disrepair (reportedly people even etched their names on it or sought "souvenirs"). Beginning in 1919 and continuing for the next seven years a project attempting to restore and gain archaeological information was in place but it was regretfully underfunded.

Up until 1952 the Ministry of Works had the view that any restoration would alter appearance and origin of the original position of the stones. With the advice of professors Stuart Pigott, Richard Atkinson and JFS Stone the Ministry reversed its decision and accepted the proposal for restoration. The project continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s honoring Chubb's request "that the site remain as open as possible". (Full text of Chubb's "Gift of Deed" can be found online.)

In the summer in 1944, as Weckstein's unit was attempting to regain Pisa for the Allies intel obtained said the Germans might have reconnaissance stationed in the city's tower itself. Weckstein and his radioman, Tech. Sgt. King, were charged "to approach the target, fix it in their sights and destroy it".

In his 1999 book "Through My Eyes: 91st Infantry Division in the Italian Campaign (Hellgate Memories World War II)" Weckstein describes how "waves of heat suddenly turned the tower into a vibrating mass, as if I were attempting to look through a bowl full of wiggling Jello". Having been instructed to give the call to fire if anything looked suspicious, he was unable to ascertain a definite enemy presence in or near the tower. For a brief time he thought of just giving the call to fire anyway but words failed him. Weckstein stated that he felt as if he were in a trance, hypnotized by the beauty of the tower, the baptistry and the cathedral. When enemy fire began overhead he and King had no choice but to retreat. After returning to their unit's lines the decision to spare the tower was made.

In 1923, to promote the development of the surrounding area, the 30 foot "Hollywoodland" sign was erected. In the following years advertisements promoting the Hollywoodland development as a refuge from hectic city living flourished. The suicide of Peg Entwistle brought an unfavorable change. The 24-year-old aspiring actress climbed to the top of the sign and jumped to her death. It was thought that her suicide was the direct result of her failure in Hollywood and adverse views of the sign and what it represented soon followed. The Hollywoodland sign went from touting prime real estate to a poster for the hard knocks of Hollywood which continued for decades.

Eventually the sign itself declined with missing or crooked letters, termites and a visibly weather worn appearance. The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission wanted to tear it down until the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce offered to refurbish and restore it. In 1949 the sign was rehabilitated and the "land" suffix was removed. During the following decades the sign began to corrode but in the 1970s the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce once again came to the rescue and secured funds for its update.

In 1973 a Los Angeles heritage commission declared it a cultural landmark. The Hollywood sign enjoyed a few years in the limelight--even appearing in multiple films. After a few years the 1973 "facelift" was showing signs of decline--again! The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce secured the $250,000 needed with the help of such Hollywood notables as Hugh Hefner, Andy Williams, Alice Cooper and Les Kelley to name a few. The wooden sign was demolished and replaced with corrugated metal panels and letters. The updated version made its "Hollywood debut" in 1978. Of course, a coat of paint or two is still needed from time to time!

In the evening of August 15, 1944 the 7th Armored Division of the US Army led by Col Welborn Barton Griffith Jr launched a failed attempt to liberate Chartres which resulted in retreat for the night. Later on that same night Col Griffith and two soldiers returned and covertly entered the Cathedral looking for any clues such as information, ammunitions, "sniper stations" or just about anything that would enable them to know the enemy's plans. They found nothing to indicate a present threat. It was extremely noticeable that there were no sniper stations considering the German forces typically positioned snipers in steeples awaiting Allied troops. This was done so frequently that in became common US Army practice to destroy church steeples when liberating French cities and towns.

The next day the 7th Armored Division (without Col Griffith) again attempted to liberate Chartres but there were German snipers who began firing from each of the Cathedral's two steeples. As the Armored Division got closer (within 300 feet) the snipers fled their posts. When Griffith arrived the Division, under the mistaken impression that there were still snipers present, had the artillerymen ready to assault the target with howitzers. Griffith immediately gave the Divison the order to "hold their fire" unaware that there had indeed been German snipers firing earlier. When the soldiers protested Colonel Griffith offered to go into the Cathedral and personally verify that there was no enemy presence.

Armed with a rifle and a sidearm Griffith climbed the 290 steps to the north steeple where he was also able to look down at the south steeple. Upon seeing no enemy threat he stood in the window of the steeple waved his arms and yelled "No snipers!" Through his determination and courage the Chartres Cathedral was saved.

In 1975 Grand Central Terminal's landmark designation was voided in order for the railroad to build over the station with a "shoebox" building designed by Marcel Breuer, the modernist architect and furniture maker. Realizing the historic and symbolic importance of Grand Central Terminal Onassis was outraged. She lent her support to the Municipal Art Society in their fight to preserve the building's status. During a press conference held in the Oyster Bar Onassis stated: "If we don't care about our past we can't have very much hope for our future. We've all heard that it's too late, or that it has to happen, that it's inevitable. But I don't think that's true. Because I think if there is a great effort, even if it's the eleventh hour, then you can succeed and I know that's what we'll do."

Grand Central was in desperate need of a major "clean-up". After the "baby boom" more families moved to the suburbs which meant the City's revenues suffered. As a result Grand Central became run down and "seedy". The ceilings covered in soot, skylights painted black during wartime remained so, windows covered with tacky advertising and to top it off--a leaky roof all contributed to its decline. But that didn't stop Jackie!

The preservation movement needed to convince Mayor Abraham Beame to spend money that the City didn't have. The City was facing a financial crisis and the savvy Onassis recognized that Beame needed to be a hero in the eyes of New Yorkers. Onassis personally wrote to Beame, eloquently "pleading the case" and within a week after receiving her letter he pledged his support for the project. Beame stated: "This case has great significance to the future of preservation in New York City and in the entire United States. Grand Central Station was designated a landmark because it is a landmark in every sense of the word; it is a symbol of life in the City of New York." A renovated walkway near the Park Avenue & 42 Street entrance was named "The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Foyer" in her honor.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' recognition of historic preservation was not limited to New York City. She led the White House Restoration and conducted a famously televised "tour" and was instrumental in the preservation of Lafayette Square in Washington DC in 1962. Her creation of the White House Fine Arts Committee influenced the passage of the Historic Preservation Act in 1966.

In September of 1940 an air raid left an unexploded bomb extremely close to St Paul's Cathedral. Because it was lodged approximately 27 ft (8 metres) into the ground it couldn't be disarmed. The only choice was to remove it intact since detonating it would have destroyed the Cathedral.

Lieutenant Robert Davies of the Royal Engineers led a team charged with digging the bomb out. One false move would have meant disaster! To add insult to injury electric cables were damaged and gas mains were ruptured making the task nearly impossible. It took three days for the team to dig it out. Once that job was completed the bomb had to be safely removed and transported to a "bomb cemetery". Davies and his men used two lorries to pull the bomb out and loaded it onto one of the trucks.

Davies' concern for the further safety of his men prompted him to drive it to a disposal site himself. He carefully drove to Hackney Marshes in East London. Once he was situated in the middle of the marshes he detonated the bomb which blew a 98 foot (30 metre) wide crater! For his heroic efforts Davies was awarded the George Cross.

You may be surprised to learn that Nagasaki was not originally on the list of target cities for the atomic bomb. The list was created by a Target Committee comprised of American generals, scientists and Army officers and Kyoto, the capital city, was the prime target. Military favored the Kyoto location because industries and factories were relocated there when other bombings took place. It was also home to many universities and the Committee felt it would be a "turning point in world history".

In early June of 1945 Secretary of War, Henry Stimson ordered Kyoto removed from the list. Stimson felt that the city, which housed more than 2,000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, including 17 places which would later be established as World Heritage Sites, was of major cultural importance and not a military site. This led to a direct conflict between Stimson and the military who kept putting it back on the target list.

Determined to save Kyoto, Stimson went directly to President Truman. After meeting with the President Stimson wrote in his diary: "He [the President] was particularly emphatic in agreeing with my suggestion that if elimination was not done, the bitterness which would be caused by such a wanton act might make it impossible during the long post-war period to reconcile the Japanese to us in that area rather than to the Russians". Stimson may have also been motivated by reasons of a somewhat personal nature. It was well-known that Stimson had visited Kyoto many times in the 1920s when he was Governor-General of the Philippines.

(Please note: There is a school of thought that credit for saving Kyoto should be given to Langdon Warner, an American archaeologist and art historian specializing in East Asian art. During WWII he was advisor to the Monuments and Fine Arts Archive Section of the Army who also opposed the bombing in order to protect the culture and heritage of Japan.)

What do you do when storms, tides and other conditions leave a 129 year-old lighthouse dangerously close to the ocean's edge? Just move the lighthouse further away from the coastline, of course. And that's just what the International Chimney Corporation did with the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1999.

When the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was completed in 1870s it was a perfect 1500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean, by 1970 the eroding sand from the ocean side left the lighthouse a mere 120 feet from the ocean. Since the lighthouse sits on pine timbers above compacted sand with fresh water topped by a layer of brick and granite it has a "floating foundation". As long as the timbers remained in place "washed" by fresh water and the surrounding sand the foundation was secure. If a storm eroded the sand and fresh water was compromised by salt water erosion the timbers would rot and the foundation would give out. Over the years various methods were employed in an attempt to hinder coastal erosion, such as sea walls and beach nourishment (artificial placement of sand) but by the 1990s it was clear that a more permanent and advanced method was needed.

The International Chimney Corporation of Buffalo, NY was awarded the contract as Project Manager by the National Park Service. With help from Expert House Movers of Maryland a team of engineers, designers, stonemasons, laborers and historic preservationists was assembled. The International Chimney Corporation initially built and repaired tall masonry structures (church steeples, industrial chimneys for steel and power plants, etc.) As the industrial world changed the company branched out into historic preservation, specializing in renovating and/or relocating big structures.

In 1999 the move commenced. A steel beamed "mat" was placed over the original timber mat foundation and using supports and shoring beams the lighthouse was lifted out of the ground and placed on a steel track that was ready and waiting. Equipped with sensors, it was slowly made its way to the new location and was installed into a new concrete slab and brick foundation. Planning and completion of moving the 4830-ton lighthouse took from June to September. The successful relocation has been hailed as "The Move of the Century" and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse should be safe in its new spot for at least another hundred years!

When French engineer Gustave Eiffel built the tower for the 1889 for the Paris World's Fair he was granted a 20 year permit. Upon the permit's expiration ownership would revert to the city of Paris who would then have the authority to tear it down. The iron structure was in stark contrast to its historic Parisian surroundings and was considered an "eyesore" by some. Eiffel came up with the strategy that if the Tower proved to be important to research it could remain as a laboratory for science.

Despite all his efforts it was radio that saved the Tower when Eiffel invited Eugène Ducretet to hold his experiments there. The first wireless message was sent from the third floor of the Eiffel Tower to the historic Panthéon 2.5 miles away and a year later, messages were sent across the English Channel.

In 1903 Eiffel asked the French military to conduct its own research on radio communications at the Tower. French army captain Gustave Ferrié (working from a wooden shack at the Tower's base) successfully made contact with forts all around Paris and by 1908 he was broadcasting signals to ships and military installations in Berlin, Casablanca and North America. This convinced the army to set up a permanent radio station at the Tower and in 1910, the city of Paris renewed the structure's permit for another 70 years.

Along with other members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Adina de Zavala was instrumental in the preservation of the San Antonio de Valero Mission, better known as the Alamo. After the State purchased the chapel of the Alamo from the Catholic Church in 1883, it was in turn purchased by the Hugo and Schmeltzer Company, a wholesale grocery firm in 1886. The Alamo mission convent, also known as the monastery, long barracks, or fortress, was the scene of the major resistance by Alamo defenders against the Mexican forces 1836. In 1892 de Zavala secured a promise from the grocery company to give her chapter priority in buying the property.

In 1903 Sarah Driscoll joined the DRT and a short time later she purchased the property to prevent an "eastern syndicate" from buying it. Although custody of the property was given to the DRT, differences and disagreements concerning the preservation arose. It led to two factions being formed; one led by Driscoll and the other by de Zavala.

Clara Driscoll wanted to destroy the rundown Hugo and Schmeltzer property, as she was under the erroneous impression that it was erected after the 1836 battle. Adina De Zavala was adamant in the opposition. She even went as far as barricading herself in the building for three days. She collected affidavits and conducted interviews with families of those who died at the Alamo which helped proved her case as to the historic value of the property. Through her actions and determination the Alamo was saved.