The first lighthouse that we know about was built in ancient Egypt, and there were lighthouses in Europe before the time of Christ.
The most famous lighthouse of ancient times was the lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This lighthouse was supposed to have been 600 feet tall, but historians today doubt that it was really that high.
No matter how tall the lighthouse was, it certainly wasn’t as powerful as modern lighthouses, for in ancient times the light was provided by fires. The most powerful lighthouse on earth today is on an island off the coast of Brittany, France. This lighthouse, which is 163 feet tall, has a light power equal to 500 million candles!
But the lights that can be seen from the greatest distance are the bulbs on top of the Empire State Building in New York City. Each of these bulbs has the power of 450 million candles, and can be seen from the ground from as far away as 80 miles . . . and from an airplane from as far away as 300 miles!
The tallest lighthouse on earth is in Yokohama, Japan, and stands 348 feet high!
