Home › What to Do Till the Doctor Comes › The Biggest Things
The Biggest Things
The largest theatre in the world is the new Opera-house in Paris. It covers nearly three acres of ground; its cubic mass is 4,287,000 feet; it cost about 100,000,000 francs.
The largest suspension bridge is the one between New York City and Brooklyn; the length of the main span is 1,595 feet 6 inches; the entire length of the bridge is 5,980 feet.
The loftiest active volcano is Popocatapetl-" smoking mountain "-35 miles south-west of Puebla, Mexico; it is 17,748 feet above the sea-level, and has a crater three miles in circumference, and 1,000 feet deep. The longest span of wire in the world is used for a telegraph in India over the River Kistnah. It is more than 6,000 feet in length, and is 1,200 feet high. The largest ship in the world was the Great Eastern. She was 680 feet long, 83 feet broad, and 60 feet deep, being 28,627 tons burden, 18,195 gross, and 13,334 net register.
The greatest fortress, from a strategical point of view, is the famous stronghold of Gibraltar. It occupies a rocky peninsula jutting out into the sea, about three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. One central rock rises to a height of 1,435 feet above the sea-level. Its northern face is almost perpendicular, while its east side is full of tremendous precipices. On the south it terminates in what is called Europa Point. The west side is less steep than the east, and between its base and the sea is the narrow, almost level span on which the town of Gibraltar is built. The fortress is considered impregnable to military assault. The regular garrison in time of peace numbers about 7,000.
The Chinese Wall is the largest in the world. It was completed by the first emperor of the Tain dynasty, about 220 B. C., as a protection against Tartars. It traverses the northern boundary of China, and is carried over the highest hills, through the deepest valleys, across rivers, and every other natural obstacle. Its length is 1,250 miles. Including a parapet five feet, the total height of the wall is 20 feet, thickness at the base, 25 feet, and at the top 15 feet. The deepest mine in the world is the Lambert coal mine in Belgium,, 3,490 feet. 1
The biggest cavern is the Mammoth Cave, in Edmonson County, Kentucky. It is near Green River, about six miles from Cave City, and 28 from Bowling Green. The cave consists of a succession of irregular chambers, some of which are large, situated on different levels. Some of these are traversed by the navigable branches of the subterranean Echo river. Blind fish are found in its waters.
The longest railway tunnel in the world is that of St. Gothard, on the line of railroad between Lucerne and Milan. The summit of the tunnel is 900 feet below the surface at Andermatt, and 6,600 feet beneath the peak of Kastlehorn, of the St. Gothard group. The tunnel is 26½ feet wide, and is 18 feet 10 inches from the floor to the crown of the arched roof. It is 9½ miles long.
The biggest trees in the world are the mammoth trees of California. One of a grove in Tulare county, according to measurements made by members of the State Geological Survey, was shown to be 276 feet in height, 108 feet in circumference at base, and 76 feet at a point 12 feet above ground. Some of the trees are 376 ft. high, and 34 ft. in diameter.
The largest library is the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris, founded by Louis XIV. It contains 1,400,000 volumes, 300,000 pamphlets, 175,000 manuscripts, 300,000 maps and charts, and 150,000 coins and medals. The collection of engravings exceeds 1,300,000, contained in some 10,000 volumes. The portraits number 100,000.
The largest desert is that of Sahara, a vast region of Northern Africa, extending from the Atlantic Ocean on the west to the valley of the Nile on the east. The length from east to west is about 3,000 miles, its average breadth about 900 miles, its area about 2,000,000 square miles. Rain falls in torrents in the Sahara at intervals of five, ten, and twenty years. In summer the heat during the day is excessive, but the nights are often cold. In winter the temperature is sometimes below freezing point.
The greatest pyramid is that of Cheops, one of the three pyramids forming the Memphis group, situated on a plateau about 137 feet above the level of the highest rise in the Nile. Its dimensions have been reduced by the removal of the outer portions to furnish stone for the City of Cairo. Its masonry consisted originally of 89,028,000 cubic feet, and still amounts to 82,111,000 feet. The present vertical height is 450 feet, against 479 feet originally. The total weight of the stone is estimated at 6,316,000 tons.
The largest bell in the world is the great bell at Moscow, at the foot of the Kremlin. Its circumference at the bottom is nearly 86 feet, and its height more than 21 feet. In its stoutest part it is 23 inches thick, and its weight has been computed to be 433,722 pounds. It has never been hung.
The highest lighthouses are the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, 220 feet; one at Genoa, Italy, 218 feet; Cape Hatterras Light, 189 feet; the Eddystone, England, 85 feet.