Cleopatra's Needle, London

Cleopatra's Needle is a 3,500-year-old red granite obelisk that originally stood in the ancient city of Heliopolis. It was commissioned by the pharaoh Thutmose III around 1450 BC. Despite its name, the monument has no direct connection to the queen Cleopatra; it gained the nickname after being moved to Alexandria, her royal city, centuries after its creation. The structure is one of a pair, with its twin currently residing in Central Park in New York City.