During my childhood years I was convinced that the excellent Thomas & Friends, a cartoon about a locomotive who liked being really useful but wasn’t too keen on plowing snow, was a work of fiction.

However, as proved by this photo, I was wrong. All these years later Thomas The Tank Engine is still in service having been relocated to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, where he hangs out with various steam engines and other anthropomorphic vehicles (I think this is George the Steam roller).

Thanks: Adam Sadler

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a bell tower in the Italian city of Pisa. Originally meant to be vertical the first stone was laid on August 9, 1173 but by 1178 it was pretty obvious that the tower has some stability issues.

In Superman III the evil Superman had no problems straitening out the lean but in reality the tower had to be closed for a decade and local houses evacuated while the world’s engineers made the building stable for at least another 300 years.

To the west of the tower is the cathedral and then the round building is the baptistry. The white square to the north is a walled off cemetery.

Thanks: Scott Ventura, Simone, eRez, Gianni

You would think that deciding on the world’s tallest building would be pretty simple: get a big measuring tape, measure the buildings, biggest one wins. Easy, huh? Well, apparently not.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat have defined four categories on which to measure the world’s tallest buildings. They are:

1. Height to the structural or architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles)
2. Height to the highest occupied floor
3. Height to the top of the roof
4. Height to the top of antenna

The height is measured from the street level of the main entrance (so basements aren’t included).

Kuala Lumpur’s fantastic Petronas Towers comes second place in the architectural height category at 452m, but they are the tallest twin towers in the world. You can visit the sky bridge, although tickets sell out fast.

When Taipei 101 in Taiwan was completed on April 20, 2004 it took the first three of the four tallest building titles with an architectural height of 508m, a highest occupied floor of 438m and a roof height of 448m. Make sure you click through to the Google Local map because this tower has an absolutely monstrous shadow.

Chicago’s Sears Tower once led the way in all four categories but today is only top in the category of height with antenna at 529m. However; this is the largest height overall. Tourists can visit the 103rd floor for fantastic views over Chicago.

All three towers can be compared at Sky Scraper Page.

Thanks: Kyle Gunn, jher, Marcin, wil Grundon, Steve Ransom, Kenneth, Benjamin, Paul, Stilt, Joe Chang & Tim

This is Buckingham Palace in London, England, it’s the Queen’s official English residence and she must be in as the flag is flying. It was originally built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham as a large townhouse, and in 1762 it was taken over by King George III, and has been a private residence for the Monarchy ever since. More info at Wikipedia.

There’s tons of people crowded at the palace gates and you can even the guards marching in formation.

Thanks to Sam Quick, Phil Henry, Mark, Matt Seeley, Reagan Blundell, Greg Askins, The Govinator, Florian, Rory, Merk, Andy

Submitter Dee reckons that Gary, Indiana is home to the largest factory on Earth, I can’t verify the fact but I can say that this is one really, really big steel mill (you can scroll around for AGES).

Gary was founded by a Steel Manufacturer and its sportsteams all have steel in the name (Steelheads, Steelcats, etc.). Gary is also the birthplace of Michael and the rest of the Jackson family, whose father worked as a crane operator in the steel mill.

Thanks: Dee