Tales of the Golden Gate and Other Wonders Quiz

Answer: Golden Gate Bridge

At the time the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937, it was both the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,280 m) long and 746 feet (227 meters) high. Connecting the city of San Francisco to Marin County, the color of the bridge is not golden as its name might imply; instead, it is international orange. Why? It is said that the color of the bridge improves visibility in the famously foggy weather of San Francisco Bay. So how did the bridge, found on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, get its name? It spans the Golden Gate Strait, which was named for its beauty by explorer John Fremont two years before the discovery of gold in California.

Answer: Chunnel

In 1994 when the Chunnel was opened for business, it was the longest undersea portion of a tunnel in the world. Built to connect the UK with France, the construction of such a Chunnel was originally proposed in 1802 and remained a topic of discussion for several years before the project was begun in 1988. Ultimately the Chunnel, considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, was 31.35 miles (50.45 kilometers) long; approximately 90% of the structure lies underwater. Did you know there are actually three tunnels in the Chunnel complex? One of the tunnels is used as a service tunnel, and the other two are single-track running tunnels.

Answer: CN Tower

The CN Tower, one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, held its record as the tallest free-standing structure for 32 years. Did you know what the "CN" stands for Canadian National? It was the company that built the tower in order to provide the Toronto area with a television/radio communication tower. The restaurant in the tower has an observation deck which completes one rotation every 72 minutes. It is estimated that from the deck, visitors can view a distance of approximately 100 miles.

Answer: Empire State Building

The Empire State Building was given its name from one of the nicknames of New York, the Empire State. It was the tallest world structure for almost 40 years, and was the first building constructed with more than 100 stories! Interestingly, after the building, one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, was officially opened in 1931, many of the offices remained vacant due to the economic circumstances of the Great Depression. Today there are so many companies housed in the building that it has its own separate zip code!

Answer: Delta and Zuiderzee Works

The Netherlands' periodic problems with flooding is historically famous; about half of its land is less than one meter above sea level. In 1667 the first published study, made by Hendrik Stevin, examined the possibility of draining the Zuiderzee, a shallow bay of the North Sea.

The construction project made the bay into a lake that was renamed Ijsselmeerof. Completed in 1932, it allowed for the reclamation of 637 mi˛ (1650 km˛) of land. After a devastating flood in 1953, the Delta Works, which took almost 50 years to complete, began a massive construction project.

The purpose was not so much to reclaim land, as it was to protect the area from future flooding. There was, however, an estimated 895 mi˛ (2201.49 km˛) of land that was reclaimed. Together the projects made the list of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Answer: Itaipu Dam

Located on the Parana River on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, the Itaipu Dam, considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, actually consists of a series of four smaller dams. It is estimated that over 50,000,000 tons of rock and earth were moved to construct the dam, which is 4.5 miles (7235 meters) long. In fact, there was so much iron and steel used in the building of the dam that 380 Eiffel Towers could have been built with it instead! From 1984-2016 the dam produced more energy than any other hydroelectric dam in the world.

Answer: Panama Canal

The only wonder to make both lists, France began the construction of the Panama Canal in 1881; the project had to be abandoned shortly after, however, due to the many problems encountered on the site. By 1904 the United States had taken over the enterprise, which was completed ten years later. Prior to the building of the canal, which is said to have been first envisioned in 1513 by Balboa, the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean, travelers going from the Atlantic to the Pacific had to walk across the isthmus or travel by mule to the other side; another choice, of course was to complete the voyage by sea around Cape Horn in South America.

Answer: First Transcontinental Railroad

In 1869 the transcontinental railroad, which was built by three different companies, was open for business after the driving of the ceremonial Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah. Beginning in Omaha, Nebraska, it was 1776 miles (2858 kilometers) long and took six years to build. Needless to say, the transcontinental railroad, one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, revolutionized travel in the United States and aided in the settling of the western part of the nation. Previously settlers had traveled by stagecoach or wagon trains, or had traveled around the coast of South America to reach the west coast.

Answer: Bell Rock

The Bell Rock Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, was built off the coast of Angus, Scotland, an area that was so dangerous that it was said that as that as many as six ships were lost there every winter. The construction of the lighthouse was difficult to say the least. For 20 hours of the day its base was covered by as much as 12 feet of water.

The men working on the project lived in a ship that was anchored nearby. Amazingly, the construction of the building was so well done that it has never been replaced or rebuilt - with the exception, of course, of updating the lights.

In addition, since the completion of the lighthouse, there have only been two recorded shipwrecks.

Answer: SS Great Eastern

The SS Great Eastern, one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, was launched in 1858, and was so large that it could carry 4000 passengers from Australia to Great Britain without having to stop for refueling. Badly damaged on its maiden voyage by an explosion, the repaired ship made several trips across the Atlantic, but was never used for its intended purpose; as the name implies, it was to be used for trading ventures in the Far East.

The best-known accomplishment of the ship was the laying of the first permanent transatlantic cable in 1866. By 1888 the ship was sold at auction and scrapped.