Apartment on the upper floors of the Eiffel Tower. Gustav Eiffel, the creator of the tower, on its upper floors equipped for himself a small apartment. He often used it to rest or to receive revered guests. One of such guest was Thomas Edison, with whom Eifel spent many hours talking.
The apartment is equipped with a kitchen, a bathroom, two bedrooms, a living room, but its main highlight is a unique view from the windows. Currently, there is a museum with wax figures of the Eiffel and Edison.
The name of the most famous landmark of Great Britain. In truth, the name “Big Ben” refers not to the entire tower, but only to the massive bell hidden inside it. The official name of the bell tower until September 2012 was the “Clock Tower of Westminster Palace”. Now the bell tower is officially called “The Tower of Elizabeth.”
To this day, it is not known for certain, in honor of whom it received its name Big Ben. One theory says that in honor of the head of the casting of the bell – a large man who was known as the “Big Ben”. The second theory refers to the heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Kaunt.
The color of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most photographed objects in the world. For a long time its construction could not be coordinated with the US Navy. When finally it was possible to obtain consent, the Navy wanted the bridge to be painted in black and yellow stripes, so that it could be seen in the fog.
As a result, the bridge architect Irving Morrow managed to convince the military to paint the bridge in a dark orange. This made the bridge not only noticeable in all weather conditions, but also incredibly beautiful.
Capsule of time in Mount Rushmore. During the construction of the monument, architect Gutzon Borglum planned to create inside the cliff Hall of the Chronicles – a secret room, where the main documents and data on US history would be kept. For this, he cut out a cave in the rock behind Abraham Lincoln’s head. However, Borglum passed away, and his work was never finished.
n 1998, more than 50 years after the death of the architect, copies of important documents and memoirs of the presidents were sealed inside an unfinished hall, which is now a time capsule.
The sky is in the picture “Scream”. The original name of Edward Munch’s legendary “Scream” sounded like “Scream of Nature”. In his diary the artist wrote:
“… suddenly the sky became blood-red, I stopped, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence – I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and city…”.
In 2003, a group of astronomers suggested that the bright red color of the sky, which surprised the artist, was caused by the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in 1883. A large amount of volcanic ash was thrown into the atmosphere, because of which incredibly colorful, fiery sunsets were observed throughout the world for several years.
Isleworth Mona Lisa. It’s no secret that many artists drew copies and different versions of the “Mona Lisa”, but there is another portrait of the Mona Lisa, which was written, according to scientists, by Da Vinci himself. In this case, the canvas is not a copy of what can be seen in the Louvre.
The picture has a slightly different perspective, which can create a 3D effect. There is an opinion that the clothes and the landscape were painted by another artist, or even several. Scientists say that this picture is an earlier version of the Mona Lisa.
The creation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The world-famous falling tower contains many secrets. Basically, everyone knows about the slope of the tower. However, no one knows exactly who built this bell tower for the cathedral of Pisa. One of the main reasons was that the construction of the tower lasted almost 200 years.
It is generally believed that the structure was designed by Bonanno Pisano, but the more likely architect may be Diotisalvi, who designed a baptistery located next to the tower and executed in the same style.
The face of the “Danae” of Rembrandt. It is known that the painting “Danae” Rembrandt began to make 2 years after his marriage to Saskia van Eilenburyh. The artist portrayed his wife in many of his paintings, and for a long time remained a mystery why the resemblance to Saskia is not so obvious as in his other paintings of the 1630s, and the style he uses is more like the creations of a later period of his work.
Not so long ago researchers managed to find the answer to this riddle. On x-ray images, the resemblance to Rembrandt’s wife became more pronounced. It turns out that the author remade the picture after the death of his wife, at a time when he was carried away by Hertier Dirks. The features of Danae’s face in the painting were changed in such a way that they combined in themselves both favorite artists’ women.
The original view of the large Sphinx. The Great Sphinx is the most ancient statue in the world. Initially it was covered with bright paint, which has survived until our days only fragmentarily, behind the ear. The sphinx also had a nose and an overhead ceremonial beard. Its fragments are kept in the British and Cairo museums.
There is a suggestion that originally the sphinx had the head of a lion, and the human head instead of it was carved later, this explains the violation of proportions between a giant body and a small head.
Torn chain at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is a gift to America from French citizens in honor of the centenary of the revolution.
It is a symbol of freedom, democracy and the abolition of slavery. That’s why at the statue’s feet lies a torn chain, which is usually not visible to tourists.
