North America

Airmail Arrows Across the USA

In the early days of the US Postal Service's national airmail service, pilots had to navigate across the USA by sight alone - a task that bad weather could make extremely difficult. And so a network of towers was built,…

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Friday, 30th May 2014

On this day: The Golden Gate Bridge Opened

On May 27, 1937, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opened, with around 200,000 people walking or roller-skating across on the first day before it was opened to traffic. Close to a million people visited for the 50th anniversary celebration in…

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Tuesday, 27th May 2014

On this day: The Main Branch of the NY Public Library Opened

On May 23, 1911, the imposing Main Branch of the New York Public Library was opened to the public, with more than a million volumes filling the 75 miles of shelving. In addition to being one of the world's foremost…

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Friday, 23rd May 2014

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

This weekend will see the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500, modestly called The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. The contest takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was visited by the Street View car a couple of years ago.…

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Thursday, 22nd May 2014

On this day: The Celsius Thermometer was Invented

On May 19, 1743, the first Celsius mercury thermometer design was published by Jean-Pierre Christin. Only a handful of countries still doggedly hold on to the Fahrenheit scale, including the US where the World's Tallest Thermometer is found in Baker,…

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Monday, 19th May 2014

On this day: The First Academy Awards

On May 16, 1929, the first Academy Awards (Oscars) took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. 270 people paid $5 for dinner and the ceremony took all of 15 minutes - a far cry from the bloated excess of the…

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Friday, 16th May 2014

Welcome to Google Sightseeing!

Google Sightseeing takes you on a tour of the world as seen from satellite or street views using Google Maps. Our team of authors present weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

Like this site? We published a photo book of the best entries, you should buy a copy.