Engineering An Empire: AGE OF ALEXANDER (History Channel program) Part 1/3

438 BC. The Parthenon is complete. This masterpiece is the crowning achievement of a remarkable century for the Greek people. They have enjoyed a burst of creativity rarely seen in the history of mankind. Led by Athens, the world's first democracy, the Greeks charged to new and dazzling heights of accomplishment. Art and form combined with engineering to create some of the most incredible structures ever seen. The brilliance of their ideas had conquered the world's imagination, but Greece's territorial ambitions were stymied by one civil war after another. It would take one man's desire for conquest and domination to unify Greece and then vanquish the world. Without Alexander the Great, it is possible Greece's Golden Era would have been just a footnote in history, but Alexander's triumph had its price. The Athenian experiment with democracy had ended and tens of thousands would die during Alexander's relentless attacks on Persia and Egypt. Still, his armies carried Greek life, culture and values far abroad and this empire became known as the "Hellenistic" world. Greece's amazing engineering achievements and ideas are still with us today. From Pergamon, a city that still stands today as testament to the genius of Greek city planning and engineering, to theaters with acoustics that still amaze sound engineers today, to the world's first lighthouse and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, this episode will examine the architecture and infrastructure engineered by ...

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History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa impresses everyone who visits it. It is located in the city of Pisa in Italy and its structure sits in Piazza dei Miracoli (Cathedral Square). Visitors who are not aware of its history might wonder why a large task reflects poor civil engineering. The tower stands next to two impressive buildings, the Camposanto and the Duomo the Baptistry.

An Italian sculptor named Bonanno Pisano designed it in 1174. The Leaning Tower of Pisa slowly began sinking right after the laborers started building it around 800 years back. When the third floor was being constructed, the workers started to realize that the Tower was slightly leaning. The problems occurred because of the poor choice of location to build the Tower.

Because of the shaky soil of estuary on which it stands, the structure started to sink so badly that led the leader to halt its construction for 90 years. Giovanni di Simone and Tommano Simone placed a belfry at the top of the tower in the 14th century. Then, the Tower started it characteristic tilt which captured the imagination of public.

The Tower demonstrates the dynamics of different elements that caused it to lean with the passage of time. The excessive weight on various areas of the soil caused continuing shift that continues till today.

Symbolizing with a bell tower, the Roman design bears a cylindrical shape characterized by six open galleries. Considered as a visual masterpiece for a long time, the design is spectacular. It is located in galleries separated by series of arches. The base of the tower is lined by blind geometrically designed arcades. Same arcades are present in the belfry with bells inside.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is loved by many over the years because of its grandeur design. It is a testament to great Italian architecture. After its completion, many engineers, architects and other great minds tried to halt the leaning.

Engineers made an effort in 1934 by installing a device to measure the tower's two directional tilts. Then, they made holes into the foundation and injected grout weighing 80 tons to further stabilize it. The effort was a failure and the tilt increased by an amount of one and half inch movement. All following efforts failed to halt the tower's lean until efforts started in 1994 to correct the lean.

The government closed the Tower to the public in 1990 because of safety concerns due to the leaning. This decision resulted in tourist revenue loss. As the lean of the tower deteriorated, the officials started to find a complete solution to the problem.

The stabilization of tower was aided by laying counterweights on the north side. Cast slabs were put in place to aid the reverse of the lean. Methods of soil extraction resulted in a further decrease in the lean. Efforts continued in 1999 to correct the lean of the Tower.

So far it is a fact that the engineers can't completely remove the lean, or the tourists will stop visiting.

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Know the History of Spain - Learn Spanish Language

Spanish history
Spanish history is really fascinating and has played a major role in the development of Spanish culture, architecture, festivals, music, art... you name it!

Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition is one of the dark periods in Spanish history and lasted about 350 years. This period is known for its strict censorship, the paranoia, torture, the autos-da-fe and death and persecution of heretics, or basically anyone who disagrees with the directives of the Catholic Church. It lasted from 1478 to 1834. The extent and severity of the Spanish Inquisition surpassed any other previous medieval Inquisition.

Spanish armada
Felipe II, assuming that God would support Catholic Spain rather than Protestant England, wanted to overthrow England to restore Catholicism and to demonstrate that Spain was the undisputed ruler of the sea. He built a seemingly "invincible" fleet and gave the order to attack and defeat England. Unfortunately the result was a crushing defeat.

The Spanish Inquisition and the Spanish Armada are probably the two most famous events in Spanish history.

La Movida Madrileña
La Movida Madrileña, which emerged during the cultural turning point in Spanish history, came in 1975 with the death of dictator Francisco Franco. This watershed brought many changes in Spain Thus the country became a liberal democracy and the economy began to recover.

Reconquista
Reconquista is Spanish and Portuguese for "reconquest". The Islamic Army had conquered the entire Iberian Peninsula. The reconquista was a great attempt by Christians to regain the area. Charlemagne, King of France, continued the attack in the Pyrenees and Septimania. Then he created the Spanish defense barrier against Moorish troops. The Spanish language world was saved.

Habsburg Spain
16th and 17th century was known as the Habsburg period in Spain under Frederick III, the then Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburg family, who originally came from Austria, had at that time all control. The most famous rulers are Charles I and Philip II of Spain. The common aim of the Habsburg family always was to expand their power to other areas - from America to Asia. They thus formed a great empire that lasted over one hundred years and during that time was a world power. In the 17 th century Spain lost several major wars, due to political and cultural matters. Charles II was the last Habsburg ruler, and after his death in 1700 the Spanish Succession war began. During the Habsburg period, through the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Iberian Peninsula became a state for the first time. Ferdinand II was the sole ruler of the Iberian Peninsula when he took over the reign of Isabella's baton daughter, who was called Joanna the Mad. Then he played a major role in the War of the League of Cambrai. When he died, the regime in Italy was taken over by France. The Habsburg period ended during the reign of Charles II, who is disabled and deformed, and thus was never taken seriously. The Battle of Rocroi was a turning point for the Spanish government and marked the end of the hundred-year rule over Spain by the Habsburg family.

Bourbon Spain
After the death of King Charles II of Spain, a new period began in Spain, where the family Habsburg monarchy no longer reigned. Spain had suffered several defeats against France and the Spanish economy was threatening to go bankrupt. The Habsburg family, however, felt shunned and refused to resign themselves to the decision, which led to the Spanish Succession war and several battles, including the Battle of Blenheim. In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, in which France and Spain agreed to not to join together under a king and a large piece of land was purchased in Spain.

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