Can You Identify These Landmarks That Were Made During the 1950s?

Built using classic reinforced concrete like so many '50s landmarks, the Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was one of Frank Lloyd Wright's final big designs. It features a spiraling structure, allowing visitors to wander along arcing ramps through impressionist, contemporary and modern works.

Despite its 1973 grand opening, the iconic Sydney Opera House was designed during the '50s, with construction getting underway in March 1959. The creation of a Danish architect, it utilizes precast shells that appear plain white from a distance, but consist of alternating stripes of gloss and matte arranged in a chevron pattern.

Designed with an African theme, the Sahara opened on the northern end of the Strip on October 7, 1952, making it the sixth major resort on this famous length of Las Vegas Blvd. The landmark spot got even bigger with the addition of a 14-story hotel in 1960. Interestingly enough, The Sands Hotel and Casino resort opened just down the road in '52, but it was torn down in 1996 to make way for The Venetian.

The earliest-built McDonald's still standing today is located in Downey, California. Opened August 18, 1953, it features classic '50s styling with the famous Golden Arches positioned at either end of the building in a giant, graceful arc.

The design of the Empire State Building is pure '30s Art Deco, but the 1950s also influenced this NYC landmark. The tallest building in the world at the time - 1,250 feet - it gained additional height with the addition of a TV antenna in 1950. It was during this period that the building began to generate a profit for its owners for the first time.

Completed just in time for the 1958 Brussels World Expo, the stainless steel structure known as Atomium is pure mid-century in its form. It measures 335 feet tall, with stainless steel balls used to hold exhibit spaces, their connecting tubes holding elevators, stairs and hallways.

Start your engines! After years of hosting speed races along coastal roads and the hard-packed beaches on the Florida coast, Daytona opened its famous International Speedway in 1959, hosting 42,000 visitors for the first Daytona 500 event that February.

Combining Art Deco style with traditional Polish design, the 778-foot Palace of Culture and Science has been Poland's tallest building since it opened in Warsaw in 1955. Today it houses a huge variety of venues, from theaters and exhibition spaces to offices and a university.

Walt's dream came true when Disneyland theme park opened in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955. More than half a century later, it remains one of the busiest amusement parks on the planet, and the property has expanded to include a second park and a series of hotels and resorts.

For hundreds of miles approaching Dillon, South Carolina, from either direction along I-95, drivers will notice hundreds of billboards starring a bandito caricature named Pedro. These signs direct tourists to South of the Border, a 350-acre attraction that opened in 1950. A 200-foot sombrero-shaped lookout tower sits alongside souvenir shops, motels and a series of amusement rides.

Famous for uniting the Sioux tribes to defend their lands against gold-seeking invaders, Sitting Bull was killed in a battle with U.S. soldiers in 1890. A memorial sculpture in his honor was unveiled in 1953 on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota. It stands proudly along the Missouri River in the area where his remains are believed to have been buried.

Built in the '50s in a class of architecture known as International Style, the United Nations Headquarters sits in an area called Turtle Bay along the East River in New York City. At its opening in 1952, the site included the 39-story Secretariat Building alongside the General Assembly and Conference Buildings. U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld is seen here in front of the General Assembly Building shortly after its opening.

After viewing the majestic Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, a Cardinal from Lisbon was determined to build a similar landmark in his own city. Construction took a decade, but the 92-foot Cristo Rei, or Christ the King, statue has sat atop a 269-foot pedestal along the Tagus River since 1959.

Designed in 1958 and completed in 1962, the main terminal building at Dulles International Airport has a sleek style thanks to architect Eero Saarinen, who's also known for creating the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Many thought Dulles would be a flop because it was situated far outside Washington, D.C., but it quickly became a major travel hub, particularly for those flying internationally.

The Desert Inn had just 300 rooms when it opened in 1950 as the fifth resort on the stretch of neon we now know as the Vegas Strip. Home to the largest casino in the area at the time, as well as the iconic Sky Room Restaurant, the Desert Inn stood at the corner of Sands Avenue until it was demolished in 2000 to clear a spot for the Wynn.

The orange and white latticework of the Tokyo Tower dominates the skyline in the Japanese capital. The 1,092 foot communications tower took just over a year to build before its grand opening two days before Christmas in 1958.

It's a gorgeous example of Art Deco standing 451 feet tall near Madison Square Park, but the Metropolitan Life North Building (also known as 11 Madison) was actually a product of the '50s. Construction began in 1932, hence the Art Deco styling, but was interrupted because of the Great Depression, so this limestone and marble structure wasn't completed until 1950.

During WWII, the Enola Gay dropped the first nuclear bomb onto the city of Hiroshima, Japan. While the attack killed an estimated 140,000 people and flattened much of the city, the stone frame of the Product Exhibit Hall near the epicenter of the blast survived. In 1954, the skeletal structure became the centerpiece of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a major landmark in the once-ruined city.

Situated at 10 Cannon St. in the heart of London, Bracken House features an iconic modern classical design. It was built between 1955 and 1958 to serve as the headquarters of The Financial Times. It's one of the most celebrated bits of post-war architecture in the city thanks to its pink sandstone, copper roof and bronze windows.

Build to house the financial firm's mid-America offices, One Prudential Plaza was completed in 1955. At 601 feet minus its 300-foot spire, it was Chicago's first skyscraper since before the Great Depression. The landmark got a neighbor in 1990 with the completion of Two Prudential Plaza next door.

China went on a massive building spree in the '50s to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. One lofty goal, known as the Ten Great Buildings, resulted in the construction of 10 major structures throughout Beijing, including the National Museum of China. Opened in 1959, it's now the most-visited museum in the world other than the Louvre.

By the dawn of the 1950s, London had largely rebuilt buildings bombed in WWII. To welcome in a new decade, the city hosted the Festival of Britain. The London Royal Festival Hall, a modern reinforced concrete structure on the South Bank, opened in 1951 as a venue for the event. Today, it's home to the London Philharmonic and many major arts events.

Rice University went all out when it was time to construct a new football stadium in 1950. The Houston institution stuck with clean, mid-century style but included seating for 50,000 cheering fans. The stadium is so massive that it's hosted other events, including JFK's 1962 "We choose to go to the moon" speech as ell as Super Bowl VIII.

Construction of the massive and elaborate La Sagrada Familia, a church in Barcelona, began with grandiose plans in the 1880s. After the death of its designer, fires, war and a serious case of vandalism prevented much progress from being made, construction got underway in earnest in the 1950s. As of 2020, the building is around 70% complete, but you can still tour the nave and other areas.

The 700-foot tall Florianturm has towered over Dortmund, Germany, since 1959. This reinforced concrete structure hosts an operations room for transmitting television shows as well as a rotating restaurant with spectacular views.

You may remember this 1950 landmark from the show, "Designing Women." It's where Suzanne Sugarbaker lived! Made of brick with grand entrance columns, the Arkansas Governor's Mansion sits within a gorgeous historic district in the capital city of Little Rock. For another '50s landmark, check out the Georgian Colonial design of the Nebraska Governor's Mansion, which was completed in 1957.

It's hard to imagine a more perfect example of mid-century modernist architecture than the Palacio da Alvorada, the official residence of the Brazilian President. The three-story structure was built between 1957 and 1958 and is famous not only for its clean, minimal lines but also for its sweeping columns and large number of water features.

Named for Triton, a Greek god of the sea, to emphasize the importance of the sea to the people of Malta, Tritons' Fountain was completed in 1959. Made of stone and concrete, it features three bronze statues of Triton at the center, and today it's a major landmark within the city of Valletta.

Rome's PalaLottomatica, or the Palazzo dello Sport as it was formerly known, is one of many modern landmarks that was initially built to serve as a venue for Olympic events. Opened just in time for the 1960 Rome games, the building is made from prefabbed concrete and topped with a ribbed concrete dome, but what really makes it stand out are the flying buttresses, which are made of modern materials but look just like the supports found in old Gothic churches.

Before this Y-shaped structure was completed on the Place de Fontenoy in 1958, the members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization met at a Paris hotel. Today their iconic headquarters building is a stunning example of '50s design and sits on a large number of columns instead of resting on the ground.

To be fair, the original terminal at Ireland's Dublin Airport was built in the '30s in the International Style of design. When the structure became too small to serve the airport's passengers, a new North Terminal was added in 1959. This new building features a mid-century modern design with an arcing sculpted roof.

Built in 1957, Fort Worth's Landmark Tower featured 30 floors spread over 420 feet, making it the tallest building in the city at the time. The aluminum-clad skyscraper was abandoned in the '90s and finally torn down in 2006, making it one of the tallest buildings in the world to be intentionally demolished.

The Queensboro Bridge was built in 1909, connecting Long Island City in Queens to the area around 59th Street in Manhattan. In the '50s, this landmark got a major overhaul as its trolley lines were totally demolished to make room for a whopping 11 lanes of traffic. A cantilever bridge made of steel, the structure famously appears in Woody Allen's 1979 flick, "Manhattan." In March 2011, the bridge was officially renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge to honor former NYC Mayor Ed Koch.

Milan's Torre Velasca has been the subject of controversy ever since it was completed in 1958. Its designers wanted to create a skyscraper that fit in with Milan's historic structures, resulting in a 328-foot modernist tower that is wider at the top than at the bottom, and supported by external struts like those on a medieval lookout tower.

The Lincoln Tunnel has allowed vehicles to travel under the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey since the 1930s. Increasing traffic and constant congestion led the city to add a south tube to the tunnel. Construction lasted from 1954 to 1957. This decade also saw the construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which connected Battery Park in lower Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn.

Designed to serve as the head of West Coast operations for the iconic recording company, the circular tower known as the Capitol Records Building opened in 1956. Nestled in the heart of Hollywood, this unique structure houses offices and a recording studio. Although the interior is closed to the general public, its round design and classic '50s styling make it worth a visit.

A deep straight separated Michigan into two peninsulas until the iconic Mackinac Bridge opened on November 1, 1957. At nearly 5 miles, the steel and concrete landmark is one of the longest suspension bridges on the globe. Plenty of people drive across, but the bridge also closes to traffic every Labor Day so pedestrians can travel across by foot.

The street once called Bond Road was renamed Tropicana Avenue when the massive Tropicana Resort opened on the Las Vegas Strip on April 14, 1957. Designed with a Cuban flair, it survived mob ties in the '70s and has nearly 1,500 rooms and a casino stretching across 50,000 square feet as of 2020.

Torre de Madrid became the tallest building in the Spanish capital upon its completion in 1957, a title it held all the way through the '80s. Today, the 466-foot, 36-story modernist structure houses residences and office space, as well as a hotel for visitors looking to stay inside this '50s landmark.