Structures Trivia

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An obsolete term for a Turkish or Italian bathhouse was a bagnio.

Anastasia Island, Florida, was the site of the first alligator farm in the U.S., established in 1892.

Arlington National Cemetery occupies 612 acres in Virginia on the Potomac River, directly opposite Washington, D.C.

As of 1996, nearly one-third of the United States' 574,671 bridges were either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to a study by the Federal Highway Administration. New York topped the list for decaying bridges, with 63 percent of its bridges needing extensive repair or replacement. Other states topping the list included District of Columbia, with 60 percent of its bridges in disrepair; Massachusetts at 58 percent; and Hawaii at 53 percent.

As of 1997, there were approximately 450,000 billboards erected nationwide, up from 300,000 in 1965.

At a cost of about $1 million, the first planetarium was opened to the public on May 10, 1930. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomical Museum of Chicago was a present to the city by Max Adler.

At its peak in 1943, the Pentagon had a working population of about 33,000. Today about 23,000 people work in the building.

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, pumps push more than 2,000 gallons of sea water a minute through jets placed to generate natural currents in the aquarium's kelp forest exhibit.

Australia's new parliament house in the nation's capital Canberra is one of the largest buildings in the southern hemisphere. The building covers nearly 15 percent of a 32-hectare site and boasts 4,500 rooms. Its floor space is approximately 250,000 square meters.

Because of its size, the Pentagon operates much like a small city. It has it's own shopping mall, bank, power plant, water and sewage facilities, fire station, police force, fast food restaurants and a "mayor".

Boulder Dam is as thick at its base (660 feet) as a city block is long.

Bricks are the oldest manufactured building material still in use. Egyptians used them 7,000 years ago.

Britain's Buckingham Palace consists of 600 rooms.

Buddhists built a temple to honor Buddha's tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Builders use ten to fourteen average-sized trees, or 10,000 board-feet of timber, to construct an average three-bedroom home in the United States, per data from the U.S. Forest Service.

Built around 2800 B.C., England's Stonehenge was designed to align exactly with the sun's rays on June 21. Stonehenge is the most famous stone circle, or megalith, in existence.

Built in 1763, Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, is the oldest surviving synagogue in North America.

Built in 1967, the world's only flying saucer launching pad is in St. Paul, Alberta, Canada.

Built in only 16 months between 1941 and 1942, the Pentagon is only 71ft tall and yet it has 5 floors, 17.5 miles of corridors, 131 stairways, 284 restrooms, 691 drinking fountains, and 7,754 windows. Workers replace more than 250 lightbulbs each day.

Burial space at Arlington National Cemetery is limited. At the current rate, it is expected to be full in 2020.