What did the places loved by tourists look like a century ago

Mount Rushmore in 1905. Once upon a time, the Lakota Indians who inhabited this area called the mountain “The Six Forefathers”. In 1930, it was renamed in honor of Charles Rushmore, an American lawyer from New York, who organized an expedition and first visited the area in 1885. The construction of the monument began in 1927 and was completed in 1941. There were no fatal accidents during construction, but some workers died later due to lung diseases caused by granite dust.

Mount Rushmore now. The heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are carved into the mountain.

The Lincoln Memorial in 1917. Back then, no one could have imagined that in the 2000s, six million people would visit this place every year. The memorial, located on the banks of the Potomac River, includes a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting, two stone slabs engraved with the texts of Lincoln’s second inaugural address and his Gettysburg address. The swampy area will later be turned into an artificial reservoir.

The Lincoln Memorial in our day. There have been many protests, speeches and debates near this monument, which is located in the center of Washington. In particular, it was here in 1963 that Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I have a Dream” speech.

The Great Sphinx in Giza in 1871. French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil pose in the photo with other members of the expedition.

The Big Sphinx is now. For centuries, the oldest known monumental sculpture in the world has been damaged (its nose fell off), dug up and immortalized. The sphinx was carved from the base of the Giza plateau and excavated by French researchers in the early 1900s. The most popular version of its purpose is that it was erected ostensibly to symbolize Pharaoh Khafra (2558-2532 BC).

The statue of Christ the Redeemer in 1924. The 38-meter-high statue in Rio de Janeiro is made of reinforced concrete and porous stone. The largest religious sculpture was built only with money donated by the Catholic community of Brazil. Construction began in 1922 and lasted six years.

The statue of Christ the Redeemer today. Lightning struck the statue twice, and in 2007 it was added to the list of the new seven wonders of the world.

The Olympic Games in 1896. Beginning in 776 BC, the Olympic Games were once held in honor of the goddess Athena. The Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient Greek stadium, is built entirely of marble and is one of the oldest stadiums in the world. In April 1896, the first international Olympic Games of modern times were held here, in which 14 countries took part.

The Olympic Games these days. Japan has allocated $3 billion to host the Olympics in 2020. The underground stadium in Tokyo accommodates at least 68 thousand people. More than 200 countries will participate in these Olympic Games.

The Eiffel Tower in 1887. Initially, it was not assumed that this monument of engineering would be permanent. Gustave Eiffel built his tower for the 1889 World’s Fair, and after that it was to be demolished. Barcelona refused the tower, and it was moved to Paris. When Paris surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940, the French cut the elevator cables on the Eiffel Tower so that the Nazis had to walk all 700 steps before hoisting their flag.

The Eiffel Tower today. Now the Eiffel Tower attracts more tourists than any other paid attraction in the world. There are at least thirty copies of it all over the world.

San Francisco in 1906. Then, in the city, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 destroyed the bay area. More than three thousand people died. At that time, San Francisco was the ninth largest city in the United States. About 80% of the city was destroyed by fires, and many residents fled to Oakland and Berkeley. Financial losses due to the disaster exceeded $400 million.

San Francisco today. San Francisco now has a population density of approximately 18,451 people per square mile and is the second most populous city in the United States after New York City.

Times Square in 1898. Manhattan Island was first settled by the Dutch in 1624, and the area where Times Square is now located was a transportation center. The land around this place, where horses and livestock were kept, became known as Longacre. In 1904, The New York Times moved into a building on 42nd Street with access to Longacre Square. Soon a subway station appeared here, and the square was renamed Times Square. Three weeks later, the first electric advertisement appeared on the wall of the bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway.

Times Square is now. This place is visited by 50 million people a year, and during the influx of tourists, up to 460 thousand pedestrians walk along these streets.

Boston, 1860. This is the oldest surviving photograph taken from a bird’s-eye view. It was made by the American James Wallace Black on October 13, 1860, by climbing a balloon to a height of 630 meters. Two historical landmarks are visible in this picture: the Old South Church, built in the Neo-Gothic style, and the original Trinity Church, which will soon be destroyed by the great Boston Fire in 1872 and then rebuilt.

Boston today. Founded by Puritan colonists in 1630, Boston became the first city in the United States to have a free high school, the first subway system and the first public park. It is believed that Boston residents donate more to charity than others and are proud that their city has become an international center of higher education.

Kyoto in 1886. Shijo-dori Street and the surrounding area have become one of the most popular places among tourists visiting Kyoto. This place competes with Tokyo in terms of the number of shops and restaurants. “Shijo” means “fourth street”. It has existed since Kyoto was the capital and was called Heian-kyo — “the capital of peace and tranquility.”

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years, from 794 to 1868. Some still believe that Kyoto is the true capital of Japan, although the imperial throne was moved to Tokyo in 1868.