Famous Landmarks for Kids

wherever i go i like to look for things called landmarks which is what this video is all about and you might be wondering what is a landmark what are landmarks well landmarks are things that help you identify where you are for example if you see this landmark called the eiffel tower you know you are in paris france or if you see big ben you know you are in london england in this video we are going to be learning about famous landmarks let's start out with a natural landmark that is incredibly powerful niagara falls so what exactly is niagara falls well it is a group of three waterfalls on the border of the united states and canada here we'll show you on the map niagara falls is right here on the map on the border of canada and the united states one of the falls is mostly in canada the other two are in the united states the biggest waterfall of the three is called horseshoe falls or canadian falls depending on who you ask it is called horseshoe falls because of its shape it looks like a horseshoe many people also call it canadian falls because most of it is in canada now horseshoe falls is huge okay it is 2590 feet wide with a drop of 187 feet horseshoe falls isn't just big it is powerful in fact horseshoe falls is the most powerful waterfall in all of north america you can see the power of horseshoe falls by seeing just how much mist is generated by the falls so much missed the other two waterfalls are american falls and bridal veil falls both of them are on the united states side they are much smaller than horseshoe falls american falls is the largest of the two and is called american falls because it is on the american side of the border bridal veil falls is the smallest of all and is called bridal veil falls because it looks like the veil that a bride wears at a wedding [Music] now here is a super easy fact to remember the waterfalls are on the niagara river okay niagara falls niagara river all right real easy really simple okay share that fact with your friends okay now catch this if you ever visit you can ride on a boat on the niagara river and see the falls up close everyone has to wear a poncho because you'll get wet the amount of mist that comes from the falls is amazing [Music] speaking of visiting did you know over 30 million people visit niagara falls every year it is one of the most inspiring natural wonders in the world now through the years not everyone has come just to visit okay for example 11 people have walked a tightrope across niagara falls tightrope walking is when someone walks across a very thin rope it requires amazing balance and focus a man named charles blondin is pictured here walking a tightrope across niagara falls while carrying his manager on his back can you imagine being that guy thankfully charles blonde and his manager made it across safely charles blonden walked across niagara falls on a tightrope many times lady named annie edson taylor also did something dangerous with the falls in 1901. you can see her pictured here she got in a barrel and rode down the falls that's right she was the first person to do that she survived although she did get hurt if you visit the falls just look at the falls okay they are beautiful just look at them and if you think they look beautiful during the day they are lit at night those are led lights and they look almost magical wow niagara falls okay yeah this guy isn't allowed to visit niagara falls it's for your safety okay you just shouldn't go you'd be tempted unless if you promised just to look at them like everyone else all right okay we have one more fact about niagara falls to share with you something we referenced at the beginning of the video niagara falls generates a lot of electricity the type of power generated by niagara falls is called hydroelectricity that's a fancy name hydroelectricity the fast movement of the water allows the generators at the plants to make electricity hydroelectricity is electricity that is powered by water niagara falls a beautiful place an incredible natural wonder and also a source of energy and electricity to the surrounding areas the next landmark we are learning about is big ben we are talking about one of the most famous clock towers in the world it's called big ben big ben might sound more like a nickname for the kid next door that fido is scared of okay but it's this clock tower it is part of a very special building in london called the palace of westminster it is located in the north end of the palace so this huge clock tower at the palace of westminster in london why is it called big ben that's a good question to be honest we don't know no seriously we don't no one does there are rumors and stories but we don't know for sure even stranger the real name for the tower is elizabeth tower a name it was given in 2012 in honor of the queen queen elizabeth ii before that it was simply called the clock tower by many which is a very honest name isn't it that is exactly what big ben is it's a clock tower now while we may not know why it is called ben we do know why it is called big it is 315 feet tall that's huge of course the clock itself is massive too the hour hand is nine feet long and the minute hand is 14 feet hug wow that's a big clock not only is the clock huge it is lit at night it's like a huge nightlight for the people of london people from all over london can see what time it is by looking at big ben in the evening well here's a question so okay how long has big ben been around okay when did they build this clock tower when did they build this thing well here's a hint it is super old super old no offense big ben but you are a very old clock tower so when was it built well big ben was completed in 1859 it has been a famous part of london for a very very long time now through the years as you might imagine big ben has been a reliable and accurate way of keeping track of time not just because big ben displays the time there are also five bells in big bend that chime four of the bells chime every 15 minutes the main bell called the great bell shines every hour it's the really really big one okay it's pretty loud because you know everyone in london has to hear it right originally the nickname big ben belonged to the great bell that's right but over time it came to mean the whole clock and tower not just the great bell well we've had so much fun talking about big ben big ben is a symbol of the united kingdom when people think of the united kingdom or think of the city of london big ben is what pops into their minds when movies and television shows film in london they usually want to film near big ben or at least have big ben featured in the background because it is such an iconic part of the city [Music] since it is such a special landmark it has been important to keep the tower safe and a good working order repairs and renovations have happened which keep big ben looking its best these guys are cleaning the clock okay careful don't fall and with exception to some times of crazy weather or times of repair the clock has just kept going and going and going as it will for future generations what a beautiful landmark if you ever visit london you will see big ben or elizabeth tower you will hear the chimes you'll tell the person next to you that big ben is 315 feet tall you can tell them that big ben has five bells four of them smaller and one great bell you could tell them you know that that building it's attached to that's the palace of westminster okay you might take a picture eat a sandwich walk around wear a hat okay all right we're done cool now we are going to learn about a landmark in washington dc called the lincoln memorial the lincoln memorial is an american monument in washington d.c the capital of the united states as you could probably tell from the name the lincoln memorial honors abraham lincoln the 16th president of the united states abraham lincoln is most famous for being the president of the united states during the civil war and abolishing slavery he was one of the most influential presidents in american history we mentioned earlier that the lincoln memorial is in washington dc the capital of the united states the lincoln memorial is in a section of washington dc called the national mall can you say the national mall the national mall the national mall is a big park in downtown washington dc with many important historical monuments right down here you can see the lincoln memorial hi lincoln memorial how you doing then right in front of the lincoln memorial is a big pool that's right a big pool a pool called the reflecting pool it is a large rectangular pool that was built shortly after the lincoln memorial was dedicated in 1922. there are beautiful walking paths around the reflecting pool it is an amazing sight to see the reflections of the monuments in the water it's not for swimming you know but it looks so beautiful then across from the lincoln memorial on the other side of the reflecting pool is the washington monument a monument honoring george washington one of the founding fathers of the united states of america and the first president of the united states there are other monuments as well in the national mall that pay tribute and honor to significant people and events in american history so if anyone says i'm going to the national mall they aren't talking about going shopping all right they're talking about visiting the large park in downtown washington dc and the monuments there hey do you remember what year the lincoln memorial was dedicated we mentioned it briefly when we were talking about the national mall do you remember 1922 the lincoln memorial was dedicated in 1922. [Music] on may 30th 1922 the lincoln memorial was dedicated here is a picture of president warren g harding on that day it was such a special day plus abraham lincoln's son robert todd lincoln was able to attend the dedication he was the last surviving son of abraham lincoln and was 78 years old when the lincoln memorial was dedicated everyone was so impressed with it it's designed like a classic greek temple and it's made of marble from colorado you might have noticed the lincoln memorial has a lot of columns the lincoln memorial has 36 columns representing the 36 states that were in the united states during his presidency the most memorable part of the lincoln memorial for most people is the statue of abraham lincoln inside the statue is 19 feet tall and is made of marble that came from the state of georgia it took four years to finish the statue that's a long time four years now here's something cool okay the lincoln memorial is open 24 hours a day okay that means you can even visit the lincoln memorial at night i mean look how cool this is this is the statue of abraham lincoln at night it looks awesome at night because it is well lit allowing people to stop by and reflect on the legacy of abraham lincoln regardless of what time it is that's so cool here is another amazing fact on august 28 1963 dr martin luther king jr gave his famous i have a dream speech from the steps of the lincoln memorial yeah that's where he delivered that speech that famous i have a dream speech it was delivered on the steps of the lincoln memorial here's a fact that's a little sad you know the us penny used to feature the lincoln memorial on the back you could even see a little abraham lincoln inside of the lincoln memorial super cool right but in 2008 they changed it to the union shield and the union shield is cool but you know the lincoln memorial used to be there you know we like the lincoln memorial right comment below do you think the lincoln memorial should have stayed on the penny let us no we still have the five dollar bill right the five dollar bill still has the lincoln memorial but you know it used to be on the penny too you know and then they changed it here is our final fact about the lincoln memorial the lincoln memorial is a popular monument to visit in fact it is estimated that over 6 million people visit the lincoln memorial every year over 6 million people not only is the lincoln memorial a tribute to abraham lincoln but it has also become a symbol of washington dc itself next we are going to learn about the great wall of china the great wall of china is the longest wall in the world how cool how fun how interesting is that there's not a single wall that's longer than the great wall the great wall the longest wall in the world and it's the biggest ancient structure ever built you might be wondering how big how long is this thing okay the great wall of china is over 13 000 miles long wow think of it a wall that's 13 000 miles long now as the name implies because it's called the great wall of china the great wall of china is in china and this is the flag the chinese flag and you see it's a red flag and it's got five gold stars one big gold star and four smaller gold stars this is the flag of the country of china now if you remember china is in the continent of asia right about here okay right about here if you remember your continents china's in the continent of asia okay now you might be wondering where in china is this gray wall okay where is it well we're about to share that with you millions and millions of people visit each and every year because it's such a special place and you're about to find out where so that if you ever in china you could say hey i know where to go to go to the wall i want to see the great wall of china the great wall of china is in the northern part of china on this map it looks like the entire wall is continuous the whole thing is connected but it's not there are places where there are very high mountains or rivers that form a natural barrier and so the wall doesn't go over those places but from a distance it looks like the wall is one great big wall now this is insane the great wall of china is over two thousand three years old now that doesn't mean every part of the wall is that old but that's when they started building the great wall of china and connecting some of the regional walls that were already there all right before we continue we want to ask you this question this question to see if you remember how many miles long is the great wall of china do you remember we mentioned it earlier in the video how many miles long is the great wall of china yeah over 13 000 miles oh my goodness over 13 000 miles wow 13 000 all right let's get back here we go the great wall of china as we said is over 2 300 years old to be honest the history of the great wall of china goes back even further than that from the 8th to the 5th centuries bc china went through the warring states period whoa it was called the warring states period because china was not one country but instead was made up of multiple states that were fighting all the time they would fight they would fight they would fight they didn't work together [Music] during this time leaders built small defensive walls in the north in the northern part of china which remember is where the great wall of china is today but then this man came along his name was chinchi wang and he was the first emperor of china he brought china together he unified china can you say that with me chinchi wang come on you can uh you can do better than that right jin shi huang yeah that's that's pretty good jin shi huang united china and began connecting many of the northern walls to protect china against northern invaders and that was 2300 years ago 2 300 years ago the start of the great wall of china now this map shows the great wall of china today back then it was not that long and also it was made mostly of wood and stone and when you visit today you'll see the great wall of china is mostly made of brick now most of the wall you see today was built during the ming dynasty the great wall of china has been built by millions of people over these 2 300 years wow oh my goodness the great wall of china still fascinates and amazes people every single year that want to visit and just say wow how did they build something this magnificent this huge which such rich history it's so cool and if you ever visit someday you could say listen i know a little bit about this place all right now we are going to learn about the eiffel tower the eiffel tower is one of the most famous structures in the entire world the entire world it is made out of iron and is 1050 feet tall that's absolutely massive and it's made out of iron this is huge here's a picture of the base of the eiffel tower and look how tiny the people look they look like little baby ants and this is just the base of this incredibly huge iron tower look how tiny they look they look like little baby ants this is such a huge structure alright so where is the eiffel tower the eiffel tower is right here in the country of france which is in the continent of europe [Music] here is the french flag the flag of the country of france you can see that the flag has three vertical stripes a blue stripe a white stripe and a red stripe now you might be wondering where in france is the eiffel tower well the eiffel tower is in paris the capital of france here is the city of paris at night do you see the eiffel tower yeah there it is right there it's kind of hard to miss it's so huge the eiffel tower remember is 1050 feet tall and it looks like it's lit up that's because it is it's incredible there are over 20 000 light bulbs on the eiffel tower over 20 000 light bulbs so people can see the eiffel tower at night alright so what's the history behind the eiffel tower why did they build it why does it look the way it does why do they call it the eiffel tower what's what's the story here the eiffel tower was built to be the entrance for the 1889 world's fair [Music] here is a poster they put up in france telling people about how the eiffel tower was going to be featured in the 1889 world fair so many people were excited because the entire world was looking at paris that day because it was the world's pharaohs a huge deal the eiffel tower was named after gustav eiffel [Music] his company designed and built the eiffel tower so they thought well let's name it after you oh eiffel tower you know eiffel tower so eiffel was an actual man gustav eiffel and he's the one that designed and built the eiffel tower him and his company so they started building it in 1887 they needed a lot of iron a lot of metal and they just kind of heaped in the beginning and they started building the foundation this is a picture of what it looked like right at the start these guys have a lot of work to do oh my goodness that must have been so overwhelming [Music] and then they finished the base how cool is that they're doing such a great job that was about so good to finish the base and then they just kept working and working and working then they started building the middle section of the eiffel tower careful we don't want to fall it's starting to get really high up really really really high up now here is a picture of the last stage of building the eiffel tower when they were building the very very top of the tower which is called the cupola and then after a lot of hard work in 1889 the eiffel tower was completed in time for the world's fair are you ready for an eiffel tower fact [Music] i know this video's been full of facts but we're gonna share one that's really really really really interesting did you know every seven years the eiffel tower has to be repainted yeah literally they have to paint the eiffel tower every seven years and here's a real picture of a guy in the 1950s painting the eiffel tower by hand can you believe it look how high up this guy is he doesn't even look scared he's just like and i'm painting i'm painting the eiffel tower this is what i do this is what i do and he seems to be pretty happy up there it's amazing has to be painted every seven years now what color do you think they paint the eiffel tower here's a picture of the eiffel tower what color do you think they paint it [Music] ah that's a good question [Music] the eiffel tower is actually painted brown and there are three shades of brown they use with the darkest shade of brown on the bottom and the lightest on the top the eiffel tower is painted brown so there you have it the eiffel tower an amazing brown iron structure that was built for the 1889 world's fair and is one of the most famous symbols of france bringing in millions of visitors every year who want to see this incredible structure for this next landmark we're going to get help from our other narrator who will be telling us about mount rushmore this is mount rushmore it is located in south dakota in the black hills national forest do you know where south dakota is south dakota is here in the midwestern united states and this is where mount rushmore is [Music] mount rushmore is a monument a monument is something that is made to give honor to a person or an event this monument gives honor to four united states presidents [Music] george washington thomas jefferson theodore roosevelt and abraham lincoln before the monument was made the mountain was already named after a man named charles rushmore charles rushmore was a lawyer from new york he visited the black hills in the 1880s over 400 people worked to carve mount rushmore out of stone that's a lot of people carving is changing something's appearance by cutting it the workers used explosives like dynamite for a lot of the carving they used smaller tools for the details on the president's faces and to smooth it out a south dakota state historian thought of the idea for the monument as a way to bring more visitors to the state the historian originally wanted the faces of different people on mount rushmore but the artist he hired said more people would come to see the presidents mount rushmore started being made in the 1920s work on it began in 1927 and it was finished in 1941 which was 14 years later that's a long time the artist wanted the monument to show more of the president's upper bodies but the united states was getting ready for war in 1941 so the money for finishing mount rushmore stopped coming some native american groups don't like the monument because the land used to belong to them the united states government treated them poorly and took the land away from them so they are upset that mount rushmore was built on that land so a native american chief from the sioux tribe planned his own monument near there that would honor a native american named crazy horse so we learned today that mount rushmore was carved out of stone work on mount rushmore began in the 1920s [Music] it has the faces of four united states presidents do you remember the president's names what is his name great job that's george washington [Music] how about him that's right that's thomas jefferson what is his name yes that's theodore roosevelt can you name this president [Music] yes you got it that's abraham lincoln great job you did so well guessing those president's names and learning all about mount rushmore today that's wonderful next we are going to learn about hoover dam if you've ever been to the hoover dam you've seen this sign this is the sign when you're really close to the hoover dam it lets you know you know it's hoover dam time it's really exciting you know and you want to dance it from the side and it's cool and it's fun what an amazing place and we're going to talk about it but real quick if you've ever been to the hoover dam we want to hear what you thought about it so write in the comment section if you've been to the hoover dam and we're going to jump right in but this is the sign this is the sign that you see when you get to the hoover dam and you might think that's not impressive it is it's a great sign it's an amazing sign great sign for the hoover dam well g williker this is quite a structure you're looking at it right now on that picture it's amazing it's made of 3.25 million tons of concrete it weighs more than 6.5 million tons the hoover dam is an amazing structure now where is the hoover dam the hoover dam is near the west coast of the united states of america it's actually on the border between the states of nevada and arizona you can see right where it is where that red dot is right there that's where the hoover dam is it crosses the colorado river which you could see right here and of course here's the hoover dam this big concrete structure i wonder if the river gets angry about this right wouldn't wouldn't you think that the river would get upset right just flowing along and all of a sudden boom you know there's there's concrete there's a concrete wall you know the river does flow through but it's just it's it's a big it's a big hassle right i mean you know it's blocking the way you know it's a big deal you don't you don't think you don't think the river is upset no okay the river doesn't have feelings okay i okay i just just thrown it out there okay no need to nitpick okay they started building the hoover dam in 1931 and they finished building it in 1936 which is a little confusing because on the hoover dam it says 1931 and 1935 but it was in 1935 the year before it was finished that they dedicated it okay so they dedicated it before it was actually finished but it was in 1936 that they finished construction and by the end of it 21 000 total people helped build it huge achievement you might not realize this but there was a big controversy back then about what we should name it what should we name it well some people wanted to name it boulder dam and in the early days a lot of people did it was originally thought that it was going to be called the hoover dam after president herbert hoover you see president herbert hoover was not popular in fact when he ran for reelection in 1932 he lost and so a lot of people didn't like him and a lot of people didn't want to name the damn after him it might seem silly and funny to us today but back then it was a big deal and there was a big fight over it in fact map makers didn't even know what to put they didn't know whether to put boulder dam or hoover dam and there was so much disagreement eventually thankfully everyone just decided hey let's call it the hoover dam there are other things that we can argue about and fight about let's just call it the hoover dam we mentioned earlier that the hoover dam has two main purposes i mean it's not just there to look pretty if it was they would have put the homeschool pop logo on the damn right if they wanted it to look pretty that's what they would have done okay that's a joke [Music] the two purposes of the hoover dam are to control the colorado river and also to generate electricity remember this it's easy to see how the hoover dam helps control the colorado river to make sure the levels are always where they need to be [Music] but it also generates a ton of electricity for people to use it uses things called turbines which are spun by the water and generates electricity it generates enough power for 1.3 million people the hoover dam is a massive powerhouse which is amazing and that energy is really good for the environment the hoover dam made from 3.25 million tons of concrete it's amazing it took five years to build it weighs more than 6.5 million tons it looks cool it controls the colorado river and it gives enough power for 1.3 million people what an amazing structure the hoover dam is all right next we are going to learn about the golden gate bridge the golden gate bridge is a massive suspension bridge that is almost a mile long it's an impressive bridge in 1994 the golden gate bridge was declared one of the seven wonders of the modern world and today it is still one of the most famous structures in the world the golden gate bridge is on the west coast of the united states of america in the state of california and here's an arrow that shows where the golden gate bridge is in california [Music] it's right at the edge of california by the pacific ocean [Music] a strait called golden gate separates san francisco from marin county a strait is a narrow waterway the golden gate strait is only about a mile wide the golden gate bridge was built to connect san francisco to marin county because the golden gate straight was causing a lot of issues with traveling well construction began in 1933 some people worried it would cost too much other people worried it wouldn't be safe [Music] safety was important really important they made sure all the workers were safe workers had to wear hard hats and there were safety nets in case someone fell and that did happen it saved the lives of 19 people because they knew safety was important just like today safety is important in 1937 it was completed it only took four years to build and by the time it was completed it was the longest bridge and the tallest bridge making it the biggest bridge in the world [Music] san francisco is a very busy city a golden gate bridge was built so people could more easily get in and out of the city and this is so fascinating over 100 000 cars cross every day over 100 000 cars drive on the golden gate bridge every single day now here's an interesting question we have for you about this bridge what color is the golden gate bridge an interesting question did you know this is something a lot of adults don't know a lot of grown-ups don't know what color it really is there's a specific color do you know what it is the golden gate bridge is international orange that's the color of the golden gate bridge and it's interesting there are so many people that don't know that so just for a second why don't we stop and think just for a second we're just gonna put it in our memory bank and if anyone ever asks you what color the golden gate bridge is you'll say international orange can you say that international orange so what color is the bridge international orange wow i think you got it i think you got it great the last landmark we are learning about in this video is the statue of liberty the statue of liberty is a massive statue in new york city it is on liberty island in what is called new york harbor now they called it liberty island after the statue of liberty got there because the statue of liberty is the coolest thing about liberty island it's actually a very very small island in new york harbor okay so you might look at pictures and wonder oh my goodness how big is it how big is this thing well the statue itself is over 151 feet tall this is a massive statue oh huge now you may not know this the word liberty means freedom the statue of liberty is a statue that celebrates the freedoms we all share now there are symbols of freedom all throughout this statue the torch itself that she carries represents freedom and in the statue she is stepping over broken chains the statue of liberty is a statue of freedom hey did you know the statue of liberty was a gift from france how cool is that the country of france gave us the statue of liberty pretty huge gift a really generous gift it cost them a lot of money to make as you might have guessed the statue was built in france and august bartholdi sculpted the statue this dude was like an amazing sculptor right didn't he do a good job and they did it out in the open because they wanted the people of france to get excited about paying for this statue because it costs a lot of money to make it's made out of copper and it's a whole lot of copper and so they built this thing in france [Music] it was completed in 1886 which was actually 10 years after when they wanted to finish it they wanted to finish it by 1876 the 100 year anniversary of when the united states became a country i mean wow even though it took longer to complete than they thought what an incredible accomplishment just look at this statue made in the 1800s such an amazing gift from france wow oh who who is this guy hey hey hey get out of here what are you what do you what do you think this is not gonna just show up here thank goodness oh boy okay i'm sorry that wasn't nice how about this we've got you know this statue of liberty video why don't you why don't you help us out the last the last little bit okay okay good well the last thing we want to share with you is why the statue is green why is the statue of liberty green well remember the statue of liberty is made of copper when copper is exposed to air and water it can have a protective green coating called copper oxide it's almost like it's a coat it's a jacket to protect the copper called copper oxide [Music] here's what the statue of liberty's face used to look like and that was the color of the entire statue and then it looked like this the statue of liberty is now covered in copper oxide it took 30 years for the statue of liberty to turn completely green do you want to try something fun you can take a penny a penny is also made out of copper and you can do the same thing to the penny that happened to the statue of liberty you can leave it outside and over time that penny as it's exposed to the air and to the water from the rain it will be covered in copper oxide over time that green protective coating and you can see that happen for yourself you can check back with that penny over time and you'll be like oh my goodness you're turning green just like the statue of liberty abraham lincoln can turn green too wow the statue of liberty a symbol of freedom in new york harbor in new york city a gift from france a reminder of the freedoms we all share for many people who came to the united states of america in search of a better life the statue of liberty was the first thing that they would see a statue of freedom for you and me thanks to our patrons who make these videos possible if you would like to help us and also get some cool homeschool pop tattoos click the link below the video or visit homeschoolpop.com to learn more as always you are so awesome thanks for learning with us

Channel: Homeschool Pop

Views: 443,823

Keywords: landmarks for kids, famous landmarks for kids, landmarks

Id: Uh332gXQYI4

Length: 49min 34sec (2974 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 25 2020