T. Shimazu of Pearl City wants to know - what were the Seven Wonders of the World, either natural or man-made, either ancient or modern?Well, when you're talking Wonders, you speak Greek. The ancient Greeks devised a list of must-sees around the world (which, in their case, extended only to where Iraq is today). A complete person needed to behold these wonders with their own eyeballs as part of life's education process. These Wonders are generally accepted as:
(2) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Built by King Nebuchadnezzer to impress one of his wives. How did Neb impress his other wives?
(3) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. An enormous temple at the Greek settlement in western Turkey, for the goddess Artemis, not the guy in "Wild Wild West." Goths burned it down. English scholars looted the remains.
(4) The Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Not the home of the beer. A 40-foot-tall gold and marble depiction of the lightning-bolt hurler sitting down. Probably the most famous statue in Greekdom, sculpted by Phidias.
(5) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Persian potentate Mausolus had such a big tomb built for himself that big tombs are named after the guy today, in the way that cranky old guys will one day be known as "fasis." Also looted by English scholars.
(6) The Colossus of Rhodes. Another big statue.
(7) The Lighthouse at Alexandria. The world's first lighthouse, on the island of Pharos in Egypt. No electricity, just a bonfire on a 400-foot tower.
H-3? Iolani Palace? The Bluebird Drive-In in Pearl City?
We'll ask this question for the next month or so, and you guys out there send suggestions to "Wat Dat Wonders" at the address or numbers below. We'll add them up and figure out what the Seven Wonders of Hawaii are. Even if they were looted by English scholars.
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