Rising Monuments and Ruined Empires

The five moments in this challenge

The scenes are shown below — tap a card to reveal its place and year.

1. 

   Round 1 · 2021

   Ever Given Blocks Suez Canal

   Suez Canal, Egypt

   The grounding of this 400-meter-long container ship halted an estimated $9.6 billion in global trade per day for nearly a week.

   Show answers
2. 

   Round 2 · 1905

   Spanning the Victoria Falls Gorge

   Livingstone, Zambia/Zimbabwe Border

   Cecil Rhodes envisioned a railway stretching from Cape Town to Cairo, mandating that this bridge cross the Zambezi gorge right where the spray from the mighty falls would mist the passing trains.

   Show answers
3. 

   Round 3 · 1890

   Excavation of the Corinth Canal

   Isthmus of Corinth, Greece

   Though Roman emperor Nero first attempted a canal here, it was only completed in the 1890s using steam-powered dredges to carve through four miles of solid rock.

   Show answers
4. 

   Round 4 · 1600 BC

   Minoan Akrotiri Buried by the Thera Eruption

   Akrotiri, Santorini, Greece

   The catastrophic volcanic explosion of Thera devastated the Aegean and buried the prosperous Minoan port town of Akrotiri in deep ash, perfectly preserving its magnificent multi-story buildings and vibrant frescoes.

   Show answers
5. 

   Round 5 · 1848

   Marshall Discovers Gold at Sutter's Mill

   Coloma, California, USA

   James Marshall found flakes of gold in the tailrace of a newly built sawmill. He and John Sutter tried to keep the discovery quiet, but word quickly spread, changing the American West forever.

   Show answers