30 Well-Known Landmarks With Unknown Secrets
Turns out there’s something weird about all the places you’d assumed were boring
![30 Well-Known Landmarks With Unknown Secrets](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/5/8/6/684586.jpg?v=2)
We all know the chamber of commerce version of famous, historical places. Boring, right? And so, we charged our readers with digging up some weird, unexpected and decidedly non-boring facts about sites we’re all familiar with. They didn’t disappoint us…
![CRACKEDCON The Great Sphinx of Giza was buried by sand up to its shoulder since at least 1,400 B.C. and was only completely excavated in 1936.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/9/684189.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKED.COM There is graffiti believed to have been carved by Union soldiers during the Civil War in the lobby of the Washington Monument.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/2/6/684126.jpg?v=2)
![In 2017, SCientists using new imaging technology discovered a huge 100 foot hidden chamber inside the Great Pramid of Giza. They plan on sending minia](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/4/5/684145.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKED COM THE FOUNTAIN OF THE FALLEN ANGEL in Madrid, which depicts a statue of Lucifer being cast out of heaven, coincidentally happens to be at 66](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/9/5/684195.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKED COM In the 1960s the entire temple of Abu Simbel dismantled and was moved 650 ft to save it from flooding.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/8/684188.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKED cO COM mt BEEEEEL BEEE B HEEE mritt In 1814, British troops set fire to the White House. You can still see burn marks.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/7/684187.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKED COM Knoxville's pride, the symbol of the 1982 World's Fair, the fabulous SUNSPHERE isn't just a cheap tourist trap. The glass panes of the sph](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/6/684186.jpg?v=2)
![NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building is SO huge, it has its own weather. NASA On humid days, actual rain clouds can form along the ceiling. CRACKED COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/4/684184.jpg?v=2)
![GRAGKED aTAmo SATREWOUSE BCOMM1SS03 ESTATTOS The Alamo, scene of one of the best-known last stands in history, and a beloved Texas landmark and touris](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/2/684182.jpg?v=2)
![THE GATEWAY ARCH In ST.LOUIS HIDES A TIME CAPSULE THAT INCLUDES 762.000 SIGNATURES FROM STUDENTS. CRACKED GOM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/1/684181.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKEDo COM The first event held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a balloon race.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/8/0/684180.jpg?v=2)
![The sheet metal from the original Hollywood sign rusted in storage until artist Bill Mack bought it in HOLLYWOC 2007. He restored the H, and used th](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/7/2/684172.jpg?v=2)
![Local villagers swipe bricks all the time from the Great Wall of China. They build with them, or sell them in village markets for a few dollars.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/6/9/684169.jpg?v=2)
![Saint Peter's Basilica was mainly funded by selling indulgences...o or prayers written by priests excusing a person from their sins. CRACKEDOONI](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/6/4/684164.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKEDCON One of the grotesques on the Washington National Cathedral is Darth Vader's helmet.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/6/2/684162.jpg?v=2)
![After a successful decade-long restoration project to save it from collapse, mt the Leaning Tower of Pisa is now back to the same position as it was i](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/5/9/684159.jpg?v=2)
![The mainland U.S.'s lowest point, Death CRACKED COM Valley, is one hour's drive from the highest. 100 FEET BELOW SEA LEVEL Death Valley That's Mt. Whi](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/4/9/684149.jpg?v=2)
![4G AND 3G OF BOTH SUMMIT THE THERE'S ON COVERAGE EVEREST MT. MTTE CRAGKEDCON](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/4/6/684146.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKEDcO The US Supreme Court Building has its own basketball court located a floor higher than the courtroom. Literally making it The Highest Court](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/2/4/684124.jpg?v=2)
![San Francisco's Palace of Fine arts is not the original structure. It was originally constructed to be part of the 1915 Panama-Pacifi Exposition, and](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/4/4/684144.jpg?v=2)
![Death and birth are prohibited on Itsukushima island in Japan to preserve the purity of the Itsukushima Shrine. CRACKEDOON](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/3/3/684133.jpg?v=2)
![BIG BEN'S time-keeping accuracy depends on a pile of British pennies. To keep up with time, pennies are stacked on top of the pendulum, which affect t](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/4/3/684143.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKEDOON In 1967, the City of London decided to replace the London Bridge as it was sinking about an inch every eight years It made the phrase LOND](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/2/8/684128.jpg?v=2)
![The iconic Atheneum in Bucharest, Romania, owes its unusual round shape to the fact it was built on the foundation of an unfinished circus. COR CRACKE](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/5/6/684156.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKEDcO COM In 1923, an archeologist found this bottle of port beneath Stonehenge. SInutilal nur Another archeologist had left it in 1802, with a no](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/2/5/684125.jpg?v=2)
![Largo di Torre Argentina, the square in Rome where Julius Caesar was assassinated ... Now serves as a sanctuary for over 100 STRAY CATS.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/2/2/684122.jpg?v=2)
![GRACKEDON PSS AMSTO FHUTAA OGT The wide crack on the Liberty Bell was actually the repair job. In the early 1840s, a narrow crack appeared on the bell](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/3/2/684132.jpg?v=2)
![There used to be a typo on the north wall of the Lincoln Memorial. The wall that was supposedly engraved with Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address missp](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/2/1/684121.jpg?v=2)
![Before the aluminum cap was placed on the Washington Monument, it was shown off in Tiffany's New York store. ai1 uck one h tane The cap was the world'](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/5/8/684158.jpg?v=2)
![THE EIFFEL TOWER IS PAINTED IN THREE SHADES In order to counteract the effect of the atmospheric perspective of the Parisan sky... It lighter uses a s](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/1/3/6/684136.jpg?v=2)