One ancient wonder only stood for about 55 years.

World History

O f the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Colossus of Rhodes stood for the shortest period of time — roughly 55 years. Sources vary as to the exact number, but what’s certain is that the monument — a celebratory statue of the Greek sun god Helios, the patron god of Rhodes — existed for a mere blip in the annals of history. (By comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza has stood for more than 4,500 years.) So what happened to it?

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By the Numbers

Greek deities that live on Mount Olympus, according to myth

Height (in feet) of the world’s tallest statue (India’s Statue of Unity)

597

Did you know?

The marathon was inspired by an ancient Greek battle.

The origin of the marathon race dates back to the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BCE and the ancient Battle of Marathon, though the commonly told origin story is likely a myth. According to the legend, a messenger named Pheidippides ran 25 miles between Athens and the city of Marathon to spread the news of a Greek victory in the battle. That myth is likely a combination of two events that actually occurred. In 490 BCE, over the course of several days, Pheidippides ran nearly 300 miles from Athens to Sparta and back to gather additional forces to defend against a Persian attack. The Athenians won the Battle of Marathon days later, and marched 25 miles back home from Marathon to defend against a potential second attack. That march was conflated with Pheidippides’ initial run in retellings of the battle that were written centuries later, including Robert Browning’s 1879 poem “Pheidippides.” The myth inspired French archaeologist Michel Bréal to propose a similar event for the 1896 Athens Olympics. The first Olympic marathon featured 17 runners traversing a 24.8-mile course between the Marathon battlefield and the city of Athens.