About That Las Vegas Town-- Part 5: Bigger and Grander

In the 1990s, Vegas developers began thinking even bigger, and the arrival of the great pyramid of the Luxur Hotel and Casino in 1993 began an ostentatious decade of international icons arriving in reduced size along the Strip as new casinos sought to become the next big thing.

Where else can you find the Eiffel Tower, Venetian canals and New York skyscrapers all within walking distance?

Yet perhaps nothing catches the eye quite like the show-stopping, cutting-edge tech of the Sphere, the largest spherical structure on the planet, which opened as a concert venue in Vegas last year.  Such grandeur, often with a touch of gaudiness, defines the Strip. 

--DaCoot

Ten World Engineering Marvels-- Part 1: Panama Canal and Golden Gate Bridge

From the History.com site by Christopher Klein.

These remarkable feats of design and construction transformed the ways that people travel, communicate and live.

For thousands of years, mankind has engineered some remarkable structures such as the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.  More recently, engineers have undertaken massive  transportation and communications projects  that have pushed the boundaries of human ingenuity.

I am just listing them and giving one or two facts about each.  The site has pictures and a lot more.

Here is a list of ten of them:

1.  PANAMA CANAL

52 miles long and opened in 1914

2.  GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

1,7 miles long (was the longest suspension bridge for  27 years)  Opened in 1937.  It's been wiped out in more than a few disaster movies so don't drive on it when they are shooting a movie about San Francisco.

--Cooter

Bizarro Looks At the Ancient Egyptians

From the January 28, 2017, Bizarro comic strip.

Ancient Egyptians are standing by the pyramids.  They are talking.  One says to the other, "Well, I heard the pharaoh sent all out pyramid-building jobs to the Mayans."

A Bit of Ancient Humor.  --CootHaHa

World War I Australian "Diggers" Get Photographed in Front of the Great Pyramidin Front of the Great Pyramid

From the July 25, 2014 Yahoo! 7: The West Australian "The story of the Cheops pyramid picture" by Malcolm Quekett.

Just weeks before many of them died at Gallipoli, Diggers (what Australian soldiers in WWI were often called) of the 11th Battalion, 703 Australians, camped out in Egypt and receiving final training were ordered to a nearby landmark for a group picture.  It was likely the last picture ever taken of some of them as many died at Gallipoli.

The 11th Battalion was raised primarily in the state of West Australia, Australia.

Captain Charles Barnes wrote:  "After Church this morning, the whole Battalion was marched up to the Pyramid (Old Cheops) and we had a photo took or at least several of them."

The officers were in the front and the men on the steps of the pyramid.

Legend has it that one of the men in the photo was actually a dead body, dressed in uniform and propped up.

So far, 154 in the photo have been identified.  They want Australian families to help with identification.

At Gallipoli, on the first day, April 25, 1915, the 11th Battalion was among the first Australian units to land and they lost 57 men of the 620 Australians killed that day.

A very interesting picture.  Look it up.

--Cooter

Four Mysteries From Ancient Egypt

From the April 26, 2016, Yahoo! Beauty "4 Mysteries From Ancient Egypt We Still Can't Figure Out" mic.com.

1.  What did ancient Egyptians look like.  Were they white or black or a mixture?

2.  How ere the pyramids built.

3.  How did King Tut die?

4.  What is hidden inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu?

Walking Like an Egyptian.  --CootTut

Seven Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth

From the July 22, 2010, Love Science by Heather Whipps.

I'm just listing. The site has pictures and more information:

1. Atlantis

2. Stonehenge

3. Ancient Animal Traps? in Israel, Egypt and Jordan

4. ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM-- Found on a sunken Greek cargo ship believed to be at least 2,000 years old with a maze of interlocking gears and mysterious etched characters.

5. Nazca Lines

6. Great Pyramids

7. GOBEKLI TEPE-- Turkey, considered to be the oldest place of worship.

I'd never heard of 3. 4 or 7. I've seen 2 and 6 thanks to Mom.

--DaCoot

Pyramid Findings Rock the Web

From the May 31, 2011, Yahoo! Today.

A robot explorer recently discovered ancient markings at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in a secret chamber that is inaccessible to humans.  It filmed the painted hieroglyphics and stone markings which have not been seen by human eyes for 4,500 years.

It is described as "one of several mysterious passages leading from the larger king's and queen's chambers."

The area had been robotically searched before, but not filmed.  This time a micro-camera was used that could bend sideways instead of just side-to-side.

Probably, the Mummy's Chamber.  --Cooter

Can You Really Patent the Pyramids?

Got this off of Yahoo News.

Believe it or not, Egypt is planning to copyright it's pyramids, Spinx and other historical structures. This means that people around the world will have to pay up to use their likenesses.

At first, this struck me as a bit ludicrous, but when I read why they wanted to do it, it began to make sense.

First off, that means you pay only if Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities considers it to be a 100% copy. Las Vegas' famed Luxor Hotel & Casino would not have a problem since it is not considered a 100% copy.

The second stipulation really makes sense to me. According to somewhat controversial Zaki Hawass, the head of the Council, "It is Egypt's right to be the only copyright owner for these monuments in order to benefit financially so we can restore, preserve, and protect Egypt's monuments." Well, since you put it that way.

It Cost Bucks, Even if They're Worthless, to Preserve. --Cooter