The staff at Big Ears Entertainment compiled this information, presented in chronological order, about six of the most famous wonders on Earth.

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA
Where: Giza, Egypt
When: Between 2700 and 1000 B.C.
Why: Royal tombs
How: Barges carried stones to the site, where workers hauled them into place with the help of inclined planes.

STONEHENGE
Where: Wiltshire, England
When: About 3000-1000 B.C.
Why: No one knows for sure. Stonehenge may have had a religious purposes or served as a giant calendar.
How: Builders could have used stone tools to shape the stones, and wooden rollers, levers, and ropes to set them in position.

GREAT WALL
Where: Northern China
When: 1400s and 1500s
Why: Protection against the Mongols
How: Workers packed dirt into wooden forms and set stones with hand tools.

PANAMA CANAL
Where: Isthmus of Panama
When: 1882-89, 1904-14
Why: Make it easier to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
How: Workers blasted through stone and employed strong machines to move earth.

HOOVER DAM
Where: Colorado River at border of Nevada and Arizona (U.S.A.)
When: 1931-36
Why: Employ jobless workers during the Depression and produce electricity for California, Arizona, and Nevada
How: Explosives and heavy equipment enabled builders to create this huge dam.

ENGLISH CHANNEL TUNNEL
Where: Under the English Channel from Folkestone, England, to Coquelles, France
When: 1987-94
Why: Link Great Britain and mainland Europe
How: Using high-tech drilling equipment, workers bored through the ground from both ends.

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