Carved stucco decoration on column, No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, dating from 9th century, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh

Thomas a Becket (1118-70), Archbishop of Canterbury, disputes with Henry II of England, overheard by 4 knights who murder Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Manuscript c.1180, earliest representation. British Library

Liebfrauenkirche-Church of Our Dear Lady (1260), earliest example of German Gothic architecture, Hauptmarkt, Trier-one of Germany's oldest towns, Western Germany

A passage of stone pillars around the main courtyard of Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid, the earliest mosque in India. To mark his victory over Rai Pithora, Qutub-ud-Din Aibak built the Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid (Might of Islam) in 1192.

No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada or Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh province, Afghanistan, Asia

Carved stucco decoration on column, No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, dating from 9th century, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh

Shrine at No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada or Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, dating from the 9th centruy AD, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh province, Afghan

Landscape park 'Grosser Garten' in Dresden with Gartenpalais and sculpture group by Pietro Balestra, earliest Baroque building in Saxony by architect Johann Georg Starcke. Dresden, Saxony, Germany

No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada or Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh province, Afghanistan, Asia

Oblique view of the minarets and dome of the Al-Azhar Mosque, circa 970, from the sahn or courtyard at night. Besides being one of Cairo's earliest mosques it is also the world's oldest surviving university.

Shrine at No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada or Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, dating from the 9th centruy AD, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh province, Afghan

Buddha, Cave N.3, one of the earliest at Longmen, completed between 641 and 650 AD, Longmen Buddhist Caves, UNESCO World Heritage Site, China, Asia

Tower at west and in background the central shrine of the Bakong Temple, Rolous group dating from 9th century, earliest of Angkor temples, Angkor,UNESCO World Heritage Site, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Indochina, Southeast Asia, Asia

Landscape park 'Grosser Garten' in Dresden with Gartenpalais and sculpture group by Pietro Balestra, earliest Baroque building in Saxony by architect Johann Georg Starcke. Dresden, Saxony, Germany

A Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus), one of the earliest spring migrants, in New York City's Central Park perched in a tree just a little past sunrise. New York. USA.

Carved stucco decoration on column, No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, dating from 9th century, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh

Towers at west of Bakong Temple, Rolous group dating from 9th century, earliest of Angkor temples, Angkor, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Indochina, Southeast Asia, Asia

No_Gonbad Mosque Mosque of Nine Cupolas also known as Khoja Piada or Masjid_e Haji Piyada Mosque of the Walking Pilgrim, the earliest Islamic monument in the country, Balkh Mother of Cities, Balkh province, Afghanistan, Asia

WIGGINS TEAPE BUILDING (GATEWAY 2), CENTRAL ATRIUM - ONE OF THE EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF THE VAST GLASS CEILING ATRIUMS, ARUP ASSOCIATES

St Louis', Eads' earliest ironclad gunboat employed by Unionist (northern) side in American Civil War 1861-1865. Sunk by torpedo in 1863. Engraving