SortStack #3607 — 2036-04-24

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. Mount Vesuvius erupts and buries the Roman city of Pompeii 79

   The famous 'bodies' of Pompeii are plaster casts: excavators poured plaster into hollows left in the ash where victims' bodies had decayed.

2. Magellan's expedition sets sail to circle the globe 1519

   Five ships and about 270 men left Spain; one ship and 18 men returned three years later. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines along the way.

3. James Watt patents his improved steam engine 1769

   Watt also coined 'horsepower' as a marketing tool — comparing his engines to the draft horses customers would be replacing. The watt unit is named for him.

4. The Eiffel Tower opens to the public in Paris 1889

   It was meant to stand for only twenty years. Its usefulness as a giant radio antenna saved it from demolition.

5. An armistice ends the fighting of the First World War 1918

   It took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The last soldier killed, Henry Gunther, died one minute before it began.

6. The Burj Khalifa opens in Dubai as the world's tallest building 2010

   At 828 meters, its tip can be seen from about 95 km away — and people on the top floors can watch the sunset minutes after it sets at ground level.

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