The New 7 Wonders of the World

[SeeinRed]

Found this interesting story on Yahoo!:

Stonehenge makes list in new seven wonders vote Tue Oct 17, 8:34 AM ET



LONDON (Reuters) - Only one of the ancient wonders of the world still survives -- now history lovers are being invited to choose a new list of seven.

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Among 21 locations shortlisted for the worldwide vote is Stonehenge, the only British landmark selected.

The 5,000-year-old stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, will be up against sites including the Acropolis in Athens; the Statue of Liberty in New York; and the last remaining original wonder, the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo.

An original list of nearly 200 sites nominated by the public was narrowed to 21 by the organizers and experts, including the former director general of Unesco Professor Federico Mayor.

The vote is organized by a non-profit Swiss foundation called New7Wonders which specializes in the preservation, restoration and promotion of monuments, and the results will be announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon.

About 20 million votes have already been lodged, including many from India, for the Taj Mahal; China, for the Great Wall and from Peru for Machu Picchu, the fortress city of the Incas.

The other original seven wonders of the ancient world were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the Statue of Zeus at Olympia; the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus; the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Tia Viering, spokeswoman for New7Wonders, said: "Apart from the Pyramids, the seven ancient wonders of the world no longer exist."

The only criteria for the new list is that the landmarks were built or discovered before 2000.

"People of England, it is now your turn to be heard," added Viering. Support Stonehenge to become one of the New Seven Wonders of the World."

Votes can be made online, at www.new7wonders.com.

The 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World, alphabetically:

1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece

2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain

3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia

4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico

5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

6 Colosseum, Rome

7 Easter Island Statues, Chile

8 Eiffel Tower, Paris

9 Great Wall, China

10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey

11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan

12 Kremlin/St.Basil's, Moscow

13 Machu Picchu, Peru

14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany

15 Petra ancient city, Jordan

16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

17 Statue of Liberty, New York

18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom

19 Sydney Opera House, Australia

20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India

21 Timbuktu city, Mali

I don't see how the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, or even the Taj Mahal fit in. The list must not be considered the "Ancient Wonders of the World" any more. Anyway, I was just wondering what some of you think the top 7 should be.

[Red Leader]

I'm surprised that Big Jesus off of I-75 didn't make the cut. Hmmmm.

[dabvu2498]

I'm surprised that Big Jesus off of I-75 didn't make the cut. Hmmmm.

Especially when equipped like this:



And everybody said...

[max venable]

I've been to four of those 21...anybody been to more than four?

[vaticanplum]

I've been to four of those 21...anybody been to more than four?

I've been to nine. I'm very lucky.

But I've never been to Russia, a huge obsession of mine, and I don't know that I'll ever go given my (rather ironic) fear of flying.

[mth123]

I've been to 5.

I vote for:

Great Wall, Colosseum, Stonehenge, Pyramids, Acropolis, Angkor Wat, and Machu Pichu

[vaticanplum]

Have any of you ever read the book "Time and Again" by Jack Finney? It's kind of about time travel...anyway, the guy in the book goes back to 1880s New York City, and the story is supplemented by photographs. There's a section of the book in which he's talking to somebody about the Statue of Liberty, and she says oh they're never going to manage to get it up there, it's all in pieces right now, her arm is in the park in fact...and you turn the page of the book and there is indeed a real photo of the Statue of Liberty's arm, just sticking up her torch in the middle of the park

It's bizarre to think about it. Anyway, I don't know that the Statue of Liberty is worthy of inclusion on this list, but I'm not sure what I would pick. Embarrassingly, I don't know what some of these are.

[Falls City Beer]

Embarrassingly, I don't know what some of these are.

I'm ignorant of Petra Ancient City. Though I do think that would make an awesome band name.

[pedro]

I've been to the Eiffel tower, Neuschwanstein Castle, and I've looked at the statue of liberty from battery park.

[Caveat Emperor]

I'm ignorant of Petra Ancient City. Though I do think that would make an awesome band name.

I might be mistaken, but I believe Petra was where they filmed "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" at -- the scenes at the temple in the canyon of the crescent moon, where the grail is found, are shot at Petra in Jordan.

[paintmered]

Though I do think that would make an awesome band name.

The band Petra agrees. Although I doubt you would care for their music.

[BoydsOfSummer]

For a wonder of the world I'd like to nominate a Redszone phenomenon--The Adam Dunn Strikeout thread.

[max venable]

I'm ignorant of Petra Ancient City. Though I do think that would make an awesome band name.

That's one of the four I've been to. The Emperor's right about Indiana Jones. Petra is a simply amazing place--an amazing city carved into the rocks.



I've also seen Machi Picchu, the pyramids, and, of course, the Statue of Liberty (which by the way is the least impressive of the four that I've visited).

[oneupper]

I've been to 8 of these.

My sister has been to every one except Timbuktu, Angor Wat and Easter Island.

She's currently living in Malaysia and will probably strike Angor Wat off the list soon enough.

[dabvu2498]

I've been to 8 as well... 9 if you count Touchdown Jesus of Monroe.

I voted for Stonehenge, Easter Island, Giza, Chichen Itza, Great Wall, Petra and the Colosseum.