Mount Rushmore belongs to the Common Era — dated here to c. 1941 CE at South Dakota, USA. Dates mark a scholarly centre of gravity (dedication, completion, or iconic phase), not a single foundation day.
Presidents carved into a mountain — dynamite and jackhammers as sculpture tools.
How it amazes the brain
Gutzon Borglum’s team shaped granite faces ~18 metres tall. Contested land and meaning are part of the story.
Why it counts as a wonder
It never needed a contest ballot to scramble the brain: scale, craft, or sheer improbability is enough.
A wonder that is also an argument about whose history gets monumentalized.
On dating
CE means years after the traditional birth of Christ. A monument listed as c. 1941 CE may have been founded earlier, rebuilt later, or become famous only in one phase. Engineering wonders (dams, tunnels, orbiting labs) are dated to opening or assembly.
This is story 75 of 100 in The Trend Ledger’s illustrated desk on world wonders raised after the birth of Christ — the companions to our BCE series.