Time for this and that.
Bits: Northern Illinois University student body includes every state as well as 76 countries. Last enrollment international students numbered 966.
Pieces: Some of the endangered species include wild salmon, ferrets, jaguar, whooping cranes, polar bears, Canadian lynx, and the grizzly bear.
Bits: Starting 45 centuries ago, thousands of workers labored for 20 years to build the Great Pyramids of Giza. Standing almost 500 feet high and more than 750 feet long, the Great Pyramid weighs more than four million tons.
Pieces: More than 2,300 years ago, Mausolus the Turkish king, built a giant tomb for himself in Halicarnassus made of gleaming white marble. Today, a big tomb is called a mausoleum.
Bits: Beginning in 1661, King Louis XIV of France took a hunting lodge at Versailles and turned it into the seat of government. It took 100 years to finish the new palace and its grounds housed thousands. Its gardens included canals, pools, sculptures and more than 1,000 fountains.
Pieces: Alexandre Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tower as well as the Statue of Liberty. The statue is more than 300 feet high and weighs more than 200 tons and is America’s tallest sculpture. Originally, it honored America’s friendship with France, but came to symbolize freedom.
Bits: On the outside, Spain’s Alhambra is a fortress. Inside, it is a paradise of gardens, fountains, sculptures, orchards, and pools. It was built for Moorish kings. My Spanish exchange student Pilar and I walked there during my visit to see her then living in Granada. We played Canasta on her rooftop with her boyfriend Gerardo. The Alhambra was to my left, the Cathedral of Granada was to the right and overhead a full August moon. Magic scene.
Pieces: Japan boasts the world’s tallest lighthouse. Yokohama’s 348-foot Marine Tower can be seen 20 miles away. It has a restaurant, museum, aviary, and an observation platform.
Bits: The Golden Gate Bridge spans the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Explorer John Charles Fremont named it in 1846. The rust-colored steel towers, which are the world’s tallest, give this suspension bridge a beauty known the world over.
Pieces: The Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome was fashioned by Michelangelo and his assistants taking four years to complete covering 10,000 square feet and illustrating 300 Biblical figures as well as the creation of the universe. Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor and disliked painting and did not want the job.
Bits: Today’s high-energy theme-park rides are driven by electricity. At the Chicago exposition in 1893, electricity was introduced to the public. Celebrating Columbus’ discovery of America, this show also presented the Ferris wheel.
Pieces: More than 2,000 years ago the Chinese emperor decided to build a wall to repel invaders. The Great Wall of China spans 2,000 miles and is so big that it is the only man-made object visible from space.
Bits: The town of Delphi was considered by the ancient Greeks to be the center of the earth. At the temple, a priestess spoke for the god Apollo and the oracle of Delphi was consulted by everyman.