North America

On this day: The City of Las Vegas was Founded

On May 15, 1905, the city of Las Vegas was founded with the auction of half a square kilometre of land owned by the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. Initially a pioneer stopover, the first casinos in…

Posted by
Thursday, 15th May 2014

On this day: The Empire State Building was dedicated

On May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building was dedicated. The 103-storey skyscraper was the tallest building in the world - a record it held for almost 40 years. President Herbert Hoover turned on the building's lights with the push…

Posted by
Thursday, 1st May 2014

Solar Power Towers

We've visited a few solar power generation facilities in the past, but here is a roundup of solar power towers - elevated structures surrounded by movable mirrors called heliostats. The mirrors concentrate solar energy onto receptors in the tower where…

Posted by
Friday, 25th April 2014

Google Underwater View

The latest frontier for Google's Street View technology is underwater. Cameras have visited quite a number of popular diving and snorkelling locations, giving us spectacular imagery of sea life and coral reefs. Today we're taking a tour of these locations,…

Posted by
Thursday, 17th April 2014

Airship Hangars Around The World

From the late 19th century to the period between the World Wars, hundreds of airship hangars were built in Western Europe and the USA to house the massive lighter-than-air craft. Today, only a handful of these huge structures remain, including…

Posted by
Thursday, 10th April 2014

Floating Bridges

Floating bridges, while often temporary structures used in times of war or disaster, can also be used long-term in locations where water conditions are very sheltered. The road surface is supported by pontoons, which - while they do float -…

Posted by
Thursday, 3rd April 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.