Burmese tradition marks the founding era of Bagan, whose plains would eventually hold over 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas.

Florence installed Michelangelo's 17-foot marble David outside the Palazzo della Signoria as a civic symbol of defiance.

Construction began on the crypt of Barcelona's Sagrada Família, the basilica that would consume architect Antoni Gaudí's life and remain unfinished more than a century later.

American engineers formally began construction of the Panama Canal, resuming a project that had already claimed thousands of lives under French management.

The SS Ancon became the first ship to officially transit the newly completed Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through 51 miles of locks and channels.

The SS Ancon became the first ship to make a full official transit through the newly completed Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The SS Ancon made the first official transit through the newly completed Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans after a decade of construction.

The SS Ancon becomes the first ship to officially transit the newly completed Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The cargo ship SS Ancon made the first official transit of the Panama Canal, completing a 51-mile passage that reshaped global trade and naval power.

Ground was broken on the Pentagon, a five-sided military headquarters built at breakneck speed in just 16 months on the eve of America's entry into World War II.

Allied firebombing raids destroyed much of Nagoya, Japan, including the centuries-old Nagoya Castle and its famous golden shachihoko ornaments.

Not the famous 1940 collapse, but a related Pacific Northwest bridge disaster raised fresh fears about wind-sensitive suspension designs.

Workers finished hoisting the final antenna section atop Toronto's CN Tower by helicopter, completing the structure that would be the world's tallest for 32 years.

Construction officially begins in Dubai on what will become the Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure ever built.