The Crystal Palace: An Omen of Things to Come

[@megaprojects9649]

This video is sponsored by Ground News. Download Ground News for free here: check.ground.news/megaprojects

[@bencarley6896]

Hows about a mega projects on the Atlantic wall during ww2? It was pretty impressive, turning the entire coastline of France into a fortress

[@bluthammer1442]

Left wing news, right wing news, centre news. Didnt really know facts had political leanings. At least we have the choice of cancer i guess.

[@motherreaper7287]

Please do Minas Tirith next. So far as mega projects go I think that one deserves some coverage.

[@Louisianacentral8]

How about the Manchester to Liverpool railway constructed by Robert Stephenson

[@nighthawk043]

Small correction: I believe "Gaelic" /ˈɡeɪlɪk/ which you pronounced (4:32), usually refers to the scottish or irish celts. "Gallic " /ˈɡalɪk/ would normally be used for the gauls of France. Both the celts and the gauls are essentially part of the same group (relating to Roman Gaul), but still probably best to call them differently, as most of continental western Europe, and most of Great Britain fit within Roman Gaul. Also, I don't think a Scot would like being called French?

[@___David__]

We also had a Crystal Palace in Portugal, built around the same time, by a Brit upon commission. But ours didn't burned down. It was demolished by the government in 1951 a movement so unpopular that to this day, almost 70 years after the fact, the gardens and the area in which the building was is still refered to as Crystal Palace. Including by people too young to have even seen it in their lifetimes.

[@--enyo--]

That's pretty interesting. I'd like to look up more on that.

[@MrMoparbob498]

David Check out auto Didactic with Cambell or Jon Levi or Flat Earth British & you will get the run down on this plus. Will blow your mind

[@dsm02c]

Thanks for this comment. It’s cool.

[@Coys319]

Bob Fedder what?

[@grlt23]

So... honestly when I have read the title I was so excited - I thought it will be video about Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center [a.k.a. Doom Mountain or NORAD HQ]. It is definitively another mega-project.

[@simonjewers6778]

During my fire service training we were told that the time taken between the fire being discovered and the first call to the Fire Brigade was 36 minutes. The streets were full of people who were wondering why the Fire Brigade had not arrived, and they all thought that someone else must have phoned up as it was such a big fire. I feel that this point was sufficiently interesting to have been included, as a quick phone call could have saved the building.

[@Absol152]

Megaproject idea, the incredible progression of Simon Whistler's beard

[@gamersrepublic6920]

If you watched business blaze you'd know that the beard came to a very sad end at the hands of his wife's decision trumping his.

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

@@gamersrepublic6920 If that isn't pvssy-whipped I don't know what is. Why get married to a guy with a beard if you don't like beards?

[@gamersrepublic6920]

@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 she didn't make him shave it off, just made him trim it for family pictures

[@Absol152]

@@gamersrepublic6920 ALLEGEDLY

[@josh_1518]

@@Absol152 ABUSE HE WAS FORCED IT WAS ABUSE

[@shonapushedplay4326]

This is my local park. While there's no major structures left aside from the terraces you can see lots of little remnants and the dinosaurs are grossly understated in this. They're protected, being restored to their Victorian glory and wonderful! It's a pretty lovely park. Oh and there's a small museum next to what's left of one of the water towers. Worthy of a day out when in London (just check opening times, it's entirely volunteer run so is only open one day a week I think).

[@gaatzaat]

My grandmother told me that the fire was so huge you could see a glow in the sky that night from the other side of the city. She was just a kid when it happened but could recall it quite clearly.

[@Aasthakhanna27]

That is insane!!!

[@highpath4776]

@@Aasthakhanna27 Well if you go to either Alexander Palace or Primrose Hill about 6 miles to the north of london you can view the Norwood Heights that form part of Sydenham Hill area and see the pair of TV transmitters quite clearly ( about 6 miles to the South of London )

[@joedarpa9566]

she was right it had its own light source but they won't tell us that........we have been lied to so much

[@-oiiio-3993]

@@joedarpa9566 Fire is it's "own light source", fool.

[@toffeefuchs]

When I first learnt English in school there was a story about the crystal palace and the great exhibition in our textbook. It was written like a short historical fiction of a kid (I think a little girl) going to see the exhibition with their family. It had a drawing of the building next to it and I vividly remember wanting to see this in person. When the teacher later told us that the building doesn't exist anymore I was very very disappointed. Now more than a decade later this video reminds me how badly I wanted to see this building. Maybe I should finally get around to write a time travel story where the protagonist gets to visit it.

[@amyhogarten5038]

This building is considered an one of the first examples of “Modern Architecture” with its extensive use of glass and steel. It’s an incredible project; thanks for do an awesome video on it‼️‼️

[@fromgermany271]

Unfortunately it was not flexible steel, but brittle cast iron.

[@andrewskivington6453]

My mum was 11 and living in London at the time. She remembered the fire as it lit up the sky over the whole of the city.

[@Parso77]

Out of interest my father saw the Crystal Palace burn down with his own eyes. He turns 90 on Tuesday...

[@Antihm-js7wc]

My mum watched it burn down she was 16 at the time.

[@SashaBraus321]

⁠@@Antihm-js7wcwoww that’s rlly cool… and dangerous 💀🤣

[@Antihm-js7wc]

@@SashaBraus321 suppose it was dangerous mum said she was picking molten glass out of her hair the next day.

[@SashaBraus321]

@@Antihm-js7wc😭😭

[@EricDavidRocks]

"It's boring." -- I knew it, Simon is an American at heart.

[@Tarotb]

Never realized it was quite so big; always imagined it as just a big greenhouse. Thanks; great video.

[@davidcatanach2620]

Insurance Assessor: So, your leaky building made entirely of steel and glass caught fire?.....

[@jokuvaan5175]

The floors were wooden right?

[@applejacks971]

They lost their building in a boating accident...

[@InVinoVeratas]

It's like they say, fires can't melt steel beams.

[@YeeSoest]

Is this where I tell people about the german dude who had a fire ensurance on his cigar collection, wanted to cash the money once they "burned down slowly over several evenings", won the case but was then charged with arson and went to jail? No? Sorry

[@Lozzie74]

Bailey Green don’t let facts ruin your story. How is steel originally smelted and cast? Using fires.

[@kevinmobile]

Your video took me back to my work place that was simply called....Crystal Palace. And the site of the 700 ft BBC television tower where I spent 21 fascinating years from 1976 helping to transmit and broadcast 405 line and 625 line television pictures to over 10m viewers in London. Each time I walked over the 'top site' as we called it, I usually found remnants of broken and melted glass from that famous fire reminding me of my own father who recounted how he saw the building burn down in 1936 from his adjacent home town of Beckenham when he was just 15. It is said a river of molten glass poured down Sydenham hill worryingly in his direction!

[@patricks_music]

It’s amazing how many images and videos we have of things of the past

[@gnomad42]

9:47, "Project began in 1950"?? Don't you mean 1850?

[@shaunholmes9900]

I did a double take when he said 1950. Was like are you sure about that.

[@ShawnWigginsKafka]

Yeah, caught that too!!

[@rklammer]

silly simon

[@scottbruffy9071]

I rewound it to make sure. Yep.

[@EscapeLife2011]

Yes I think he meant 1850 we all had to rewind just to make sure

[@anyawillowfan]

One of the most impressive things about the Crystal Palace/the Great Exhibition is that people of all classes mingled as they walked through it. Previously rich people wouldn't regularly see the working class during their social hours/shopping etc, and vice versa.

[@greenspittgames7374]

Commenting until Simon makes that video about cargo ships he said he would do

[@AndrewTJackson]

Escargo ships.

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

Well, it sometimes takes weeks to months to make a video, particularly with the research that goes into documentaries, so have fun with that. It'll probably be quicker to do the research yourself instead of waiting for someone to spoon-feed it to you.

[@wolf3794]

Stop asking Simon, ask EtA instead!

[@roberthill3207]

I will as well have a great day.

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

_I just heard echoes of haunting laughter followed by the phrase,_ _"Poo Faced Git".......{0.o}......I dunno._

[@hullinstruments]

It’s refreshing to hear someone describe their nation accurately and brutally honest. I live in the southern United States, and I love my country…. But hate all the suffering it’s brought to the world.

[@IRMacGuyver]

Then move out

[@albertjackinson]

Megaprojects idea: The construction of the Hubble Space Telescope.

[@DavidJohnson-dp4vv]

You mean James Webb

[@SigEpBlue]

@@DavidJohnson-dp4vv That's a near unequivocal neverending story.

[@albertjackinson]

@@DavidJohnson-dp4vv Both were constructed, obviously.

[@DavidJohnson-dp4vv]

@@SigEpBlue I honestly do like that reply.

[@dennisbast743]

@@DavidJohnson-dp4vv Isn't "The James Webb Telescope" a science fiction story? I forget the author's name. Suggestion? ;-)))

[@RDSwords]

Despite so stubbornly refusing to simply watch a couple of Star Wars movies, Simon really nails some strong Palpatine vibes every time he says EMPIIIIIRE lol.

[@markwallace1727]

Simon: "I don't follow football. It's boring." *Proceeds to give it's size in football pitches too* Yes, it really does appear to be a unit of measurement, much like any amount of water is given in number of Olympic swimming pools. (Neither helps me). Nice work as always on the video Simon.

[@spamcan61]

I'd also nominate blue wales, London buses and Nelson's column as meaningless measurement units.

[@rednammoc]

@@spamcan61 While you may have meant "blue whales", the land area of Wales is another common unit of measurement too

[@ObservationofLimits]

Ironically, pitches also aren’t a standard size. They simply have to fall within certain dimensions.

[@todddiesen2647]

To quote a professor of mine, “the reason the sun never set on the British Empire was because even god didn’t trust those bastards in the dark”

[@elgatto3133]

That's RAW

[@personatthebay]

And definetally not from your profs quote😅

[@kickofftheboot]

😂🤣

[@ronee1959]

It was said by Shasi Tharoor in An Era Of Darkness: the British Empire in India

[@randomobserver8168]

@@ronee1959 Indians have ample complaints, especially about economic exploitation, but considering the region's history as one of rise and fall of empires, with each new one rising by wiping out the successor states of collapsed predecessors, and many of them of foreign origin, the politics and war that produced the British empire there were pretty normal stuff. They just like over egging the pudding in recent years.

[@donalodomhnaill]

Simon, your videos are brilliant. This one in particular was extra emotional. I love the history of the Crystal Palace. Keep up the amazing brilliant work. Seriously, you are one of the best channels on KZbin at the moment. Thanks for all the great content!

[@annabendewald5078]

“The building began in 1950.” I think that was a mistake. Was it 1850?

[@audreymuzingo933]

Yeah wtf, I had to replay that, thinking maybe he said 1915 which would at least be closer, but still not right.

[@tinmachine693]

I checked it out on ground news. The left said 1750,the centre 1850 & the right 1950.

[@audreymuzingo933]

@@tinmachine693 What is 'ground news' and by 'left, center, right' are you talking about the parts of the building?

[@tinmachine693]

@@audreymuzingo933 the sponsor of this video gives you the news from 3 different perspectives. Go to comments at the top of the page .

[@catholiccrusader5328]

Anna you beat me to it.

[@NikhilAngadBakshi]

Having lived in CP, visited the museum and knowing a bit of trivia about it, this video was particularly interesting. Thanks Simon. Now I can continue to rant to my coworkers about Crystal Palace unapologetically :p

[@juliaclark7354]

I love Simon! He makes it so much fun to learn. As I was watching this, I remembered seeing a strangely similar-looking building in Dallas, Texas. It’s called Infomart and it was, in fact, designed to resemble The Crystal Palace. There’s a Wikipedia article on it that says it was originally a sort-of permanent trade-show space, but later was converted to a “technology office and data center.”

[@CammanderDart]

Y'all should do a video on Chicago's World Fair, Like how the city rebuilt itself and expanded itself in record time to get the worlds fair.

[@david5372]

...and don't forget to mention that the entire enterprise in 1893 was lit and powered by -- (who else?) -- NIKOLA TESLA!!

[@-oiiio-3993]

@@david5372 As chief engineer for Westinghouse. Tesla's system was more efficient and vastly undercut the competing bid of Edison.

[@davidlorryman998]

My school used the sports complex at Crystal Palace. I can remember trying to take a shortcut to the bus stop up the old stone stairs. I think we were thwarted by a missing piece of staircase. Still had a magic atmosphere. Great episode. Thank you.

[@MarielaQue]

I wish the Crystal Palace did still exist

[@shindari]

Could easily be rebuilt, at a fraction of the time, today (probably not at a fraction of the cost, though). The trouble is, England doesn't want to do it anymore, and even the United States would struggle to get it even started, from the sheer scale of political opposition any party who proposed it would receive (If Trump proposed it, he'd probably ASSASSINATED the next day!)

[@_Abjuranax_]

Infomart in Dallas is a smaller, albeit quite large replica based on the Crystal Palaces' design, and has probably influenced many other buildings as well.

[@justinvandergriff]

it does exist. its in dallas. i drive by it all the time. its owned by infomart now en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infomart

[@gormauslander]

@@shindari megaprojects aren't typically government enterprises here in the USA. It would be done by a wealthy enthusiast

[@shindari]

@@gormauslander Which means that Trump will find some kind of "wealthy enthusiast" to build him that "Mexican Wall" he's been dreaming of for four years...

[@bicyclist2]

I knew about this from a TV show in the 80's. I had forgotten about this. Thanks for the history. I downloaded Ground News.

[@b.w.22]

My great-great-great grandfather had a huge Victorian greenhouse in this style. I don’t think many remain, though they’re so striking. They also had a courtyard where they played human chess, so it’s all a bygone world I guess.

[@johnmurray8428]

My Mum grew up in Earlesfield South London and remembered the night Crystal Palace burnt down. She talked about the amazing glow in the sky. I went to the park in the 1960s. The local railway station is magnificent.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:30 - Chapter 1 - Crystal Palaced 2:40 - Chapter 2 - Pax Britannica 4:00 - Chapter 3 - The great exhibition 5:10 - Chapter 4 - Design competition 7:50 - Chapter 5 - The largest glass house 9:40 - Chapter 6 - Construction 12:05 - Chapter 7 - The grand opening 14:00 - Chapter 8 - After the greatest show on earth 15:35 - Chapter 9 - The great fire

[@billblank9932]

Simon is brilliant and always fun to watch. Hadn't heard of the Crystal Palace before, so when the year came up, it reminded me of a very different story that started in England. In December 1850, a woman named Anne Berry boarded the Roscius with her family, in Liverpool. They'd traveled there from Roscommon in flight from the famine. One of her sons went on to fight and die in the American Civil War, but Anne never made it to New York. The Roscius made port in the winter of 1851, but Anne died on the voyage. No, not directly related to the Palace, but the one story about that year, evoked the other.

[@celticlass8573]

I've often thought that if you were a person with a curious mind, the decades from the 1850s to 1920s would have been an incredible time to be alive.

[@stephenlane9168]

Another blindingly good video of interest Simon & production team 👌🙏thank you

[@TzarHiroki10]

Simon’s beard is THE mega project and I love it!

[@AL_THOMAS]

I'm with you about football Simon! I live near the Crystal Palace. It's an incredible place. Most of the images shows early on are from when it was enlarged and taken to Penge Common in South East London. Most of the images were later as photography was in its infancy. There was a fire int eh east wing where Queen Victoria had apartments. If you visit it today you can see where the palace was. It was moved from Hyde Park to Penge (on Sydenham Hill) by Pickfords removal men. Many people died in the construction. The water towers were designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the original ones weren't strong enough. They survived the fire, but were knocked down before WW2 so they didn't become landmarks for the German bombers. The bases are still visible. There were actually two fires. The first one destroyed one wing where the Queens apartments were. This then became a aquarium (you can see the ruins of it today. THe major one was in 1936. A large part of it survived that that led down to the lower station. This survived until about 1956 but that too burnt down. After it burnt down, the site ended up being filled with rubble from the Blitz. You can see bits of bricks sticking out from the ground. If you look closely you can see many of the original posts which they simply cut off at ground level. Some people say that glass flowed like water down the hill. This is fake news and never happened. Some glass did melt, but not enough to flow like water and it was simply too far from the road. It was the first pre-fabricated building in the world, the largest glass building in the world for many years to come and a huge landmark that gave the area its name. The park had huge fountains, some of which you can still see in some overgrown parts of the park. It's the place where the FA cup used to be held. Jim Clark races Lotus Cortinas as the park was used as a race track (one of the worlds first) there and it had a dry ski slope, the dinosaurs (which are still there). The scene in the Italian Job where they test the minis and they 'blow the bloody doors off' were all filmed in the park too. You could do hours on the CP.

[@TheBooban]

15:37 A small fire? They did insurance scams back then too.

[@WolvenSpectre]

What the hell were coats made of back then? I know billiard balls sometimes exploded but what in a coat room would go BOOM?

[@NM-wd7kx]

@@WolvenSpectre collars were often made of cellulite (same as billiard balls, I believe), but fur, wool, cotton, waxed linen, etc. all delightfully flammable

[@monad_tcp]

but how that much glass and iron burned? what did the fire got so hot? or was there a lot of wood too?

[@countzero1136]

My father always insisted that it was an insurance job too

[@countzero1136]

@@WolvenSpectre I'm pretty sure the fire had a bit of help - after all, the place had been losing money for some time beforehand

[@olgadupreez5145]

Great video as always thanks! I especially enjoyed Simon's pronounciation of 'Empahr'!

[@Darryl_Frost]

I like how Ground News uses the electronics circuit symbol for electrical ground!! Makes an old techy happy...

[@ground_news]

We chose the logo and name and as an ode to the engineering background of our team. Our CEO worked on the New Horizons mission and our CTO used to work in R&D in the healthcare space. Always good to remember where you came from!

[@Darkhalfcustoms]

I had never heard of this one and I studied quite a bit of history. Good closing line very epic in the presentation. Like you felt the loss your self.

[@mancavegamingandgardening9901]

Would love to learn more about that Great Stove. Interesting to see how greenhouse technology has come along since the 1800s.

[@Kethambelle]

Interesting fact: The Great Stove was so large that Queen Victoria was able to ride around the inside using a horse and carriage during her visit in 1843. Sir Joseph Paxton really deserves his own video on Simon's other channel Biographics. He was an amazing horticulturist, landscape architect and engineer, as well as an author, journalist and board member of three different railway companies. At just 20 he was running an experimental arboretum for the Royal Horticultural Society, by 22 he was the head gardener at Chatsworth House, where he designed and installed the Emperor Fountain (able to reach 290m), built the Great Stove, won national prizes for the fruit he produced and became the world leading expert on the dahlia. Oh and there's a wonderful story about the head botanist at Kew asking Paxton to help him save an ailing specimen of an extremely rare lily......so Paxton designed and built a special hothouse and had the thing flowering within three months. Not bad for someone born into a poor farming family during the early 19th century.

[@mancavegamingandgardening9901]

@@Kethambelle not the type of reply I was expecting 7 months later, but I have been flush with joy since reading more about this guy. Simon, where the hell is our Biographics!?

[@Kethambelle]

@@mancavegamingandgardening9901 Hahaha sorry, I just got excited at the chance to go on a rant about Paxton, he was such an interesting guy.

[@normanhumphrey9695]

Fantastic story and very well presented. Thank you for this excellent video.

[@archie6472]

I would love to see a video on this channel about the tower London were going to build to rival Paris’ Eiffel Tower and become the tallest building in the world, it was going to be built in Wembley and began construction, but then stopped.

[@paulqueripel3493]

Built on boggy land and started to tilt if I remember correctly. So it would have been a cross between Eiffel and Pisa.

[@highpath4776]

See Jago Hazzard on Watkins Tower. One vid to come too I think on the cemetary tower planned for north london

[@carriere888]

would have been epic

[@kennyhagan5781]

The stories I find here have a little bit of everything.... that's an awesome thing.

[@dazman76]

4:31 "...outdo their Gaelic cousins..." - that should be Gallic cousins, right?

[@markchip1]

Nah - just a bunch of tourists from Cardiff quarantined in Paris!

[@6FuriousD9]

Yeah buddy. Fully paused the video there and replied it. It's Gallic Simon, gal-ik

[@Jake-mf5sn]

This bugged me far more than it should have.

[@scottwhitley3392]

Mark Chippendale the Welsh aren’t Gaelic either 😂

[@alexhamilton4084]

Not the only error he made. He said construction started in 1951 not 1851 😂

[@SSmith-fm9kg]

Great video. I always wondered about the history of the structure. Thanks.

[@JohnDoe-vm2di]

Did you know that Back in 1985, a developer built an office building that was modeled after the The Crystal Palace in Dallas, TX? Its called the Infomart building and its the closest the world has to The Crystal Palace. Ive never been inside myself, but it’s right off the highway and very distinctive looking. You cant miss it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infomart

[@YaBoiAltair]

Wait lmao I drive by this all the time I thought it WAS the Crystal Palace that he would be talking about

[@JohnDoe-vm2di]

@@YaBoiAltair I drive by it all the time too. Ive always liked it because it’s distinctive looking.

[@Alanpie314]

I was there back in the 80s. Fascinating place. I'm sure it's not as big as the original, though I don't know the actual dimensions of either building.

My mother was a waitress in the resteraunt in Crystal Palace, she met my dad there, he tried to sneek out without paying. Now, where the palace stood is very overgrown, that it is a wild sanctuary. As he said, there is still the Monster Park, and the palicade, where you have the Sphynx. There is also an underground platform and walkway that has been discovered there, it is well worth the visit

[@anishadamane4179]

Simon you should do some research on ancient Indian temples you will be amazed by their structures

[@little-wytch]

Very interesting video, but thank you especially for this particular sponsor. I legit stopped the video to go check it out after your description and this is exactly what I needed to care about news again and care about staying informed. Thank you for rekindling a shred of my lost hope for this failing world.

[@KHurlbutt]

Episode suggestion: "Rondon Commission" - the project to set up telegraph lines into the amazon. Cândido Rondon is a very interesting figure I'd like to learn more about.

[@kevinjessel8809]

Oh hey wow, I did my senior thesis on the US Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden was based on the Crystal Palace. There is an episode worth doing here. Also I can email a whole ton of research. Could also do Kew Garden as well.

[@tokyoskid901]

Would love to see the Chicago worlds fair grounds as well!

[@christophermerlot3366]

The Ferris Wheel alone was a megaproject.

[@shindari]

Always been rather curious about the one in Queens, NY, too. As that was my home town, and I always saw the "remains" of that event, which took place before I was even a fetus. Only my parents could tell me what it was really like, and I'd love to hear a bit about that one... just on a personal level, mind you. I don't really care if it was truly amazing, or not.

[@robertcothern7504]

Devil in the white city. This book has great descriptions of the Chicago worlds fair( along with the worst serial killer ever)

[@kimchipig]

One can look back at the horrors of empire but did the UK at the time ever have engineers.Stephenson and Brunel were both extremely brilliant men, developing ways to put canals, and later railways are grade in any landscape, and then go out and build it. Brunel went on to build the largest ship in history and used it to lay the first transatlantic cable. We cannot forget Joseph Bazallgette, who was a master of huge projects like the London sewer system. In any of these massive projects, the project management was the most difficult part but these great men did it. Go to the UK, which is a living museum in many ways and one will see the work of these great engineers all over the country.

[@--enyo--]

I'd love to see the London Sewers as a Megaprojects video.

[@4077Disc]

You’d need an army of ETAs to heat a building like that. Generalissimo ETA will begin the conquering soon.....

[@pogthegrea]

His excellency ETA will conquer every wall outlet in the known universe

[@ScottieD813]

He'll have an army of heating devices. Not only heaters but anything that conducts heat. Curlers, straighteners, hair dryers, etc. Theyll heat that room up so much that Simon will pass out. Then, they'll take over the video equipment and start posting videos on all of Simon's channels. The videos will be set up like an Anonymous video, ETA will in the forefront with his army behind him while he lays out his demands and commands for all the subscribers to take action on behalf of him. All of the sudden, there will be Fight-Club-style vandalism with the calling card being the Wilson face that's on the front of ETA so the authorities know exactly who's taking credit

[@christophermerlot3366]

@@ScottieD813 Maximum Overdrive 2020

[@hkbabel]

Only if you refer to him as EtA, he prefers. But why do I assume he's a He?

[@4077Disc]

Holly B Generalissima EtA? Generalissimx EtA?

[@thomashenry3230]

I live 5 minutes from the site of the site, its mental watching a video you made on something round the corner from my house

[@CC-zr6fp]

Also, highly recommend the tv show Victoria (the latest season as of this video) as one of the last few episodes of the season shows the planning and building of the Crystal Palace by Prince Albert

[@lunagrace2872]

Such an amazing episode! One of my favorites. 🥰

[@AreHan1991]

One of your best videos (among soo many good ones!). The Crystal Palace was an amazing project, especiallyfor its time

[@mikebailey783]

4:30 - Ahh, hold on there; you've called the French 'Gaelic', which is in fact the language spoken in Ireland & Scotland. You mean 'Gallic'; as in 'Gaul'.

[@rednammoc]

It was galling to hear this mispronunciation...

[@rogerknights857]

He also said 1950.

[@ryancrucena755]

All your pfp is green :D

[@shotfirer-yf7ub]

As a small note… my little home town, of Great Western, in between the Grampians - the Pyrenees- and on the fringe of the Wimmera region of Victoria, (population 150 when I was a kid) had little in the way of streets. But those few streets were proudly named, Stevenson st, Brunel st, Paxton st in the early 1853,just 18 months after the opening of the great exhibition. My address was the corner of Paxton and Brunel Streets,Great Western, Victoria. My interest in engineering comes directly from the names from my home town.

[@markchip1]

"GAELIC" COUSINS!?!??? (the French) I think you mean "Gallic"!!

[@countzero1136]

I winced at that one as well :)

[@todddiesen2647]

Because the Scots and Irish were poised to overcome the Welsh... really. Honest.

[@sandraa.lelacheur3001]

Great work Simon !

[@quasarsavage]

The Blaze cannot be contained! 🤣

[@joestephan1111]

Motorcycle & car racing was held on the roads of the park. A racing-based episode of either the Avengers or The Saint was filmed there.

[@Robert-zx7hj]

I'm having beard envy. I think Simon's beard needs its own video.

[@richardbenson4750]

Awesome concept of ground news...

[@ground_news]

Thanks for the support Richard! Try out our app and let us know what you think.

[@carschmn]

Imagine talking to that glass dealer. “How large of glass panes can you make?” “49x10” “We’ll take 200,000”

[@mattwales2734]

There's a replica of the Crystal Palace in Dallas, Texas. It's called the Infomart.

[@usfast]

I worked there for 5 years and we got visitors from all over the world including Prince Charles when it first opened. It's still there and is an amazing building.

[@dahak972]

Holy sh*t Simon, that’s a helluva beard you’re rockin’ there. Great video guys, thank you!

[@FirelordRob76]

i could watch Simon talk about the construction of the Big Mac and be captivated. great work, my british friend.

[@TalesOfWar]

Whenever I tell anybody in the world I'm from Manchester the first thing 90% of them ask is "City or United" and my answer is "neither, I don't care for football". So I totally get your struggle there haha.

[@hobbitreet]

I had heard of this building but knew little about it; thank you for expanding my education.

[@markkmiecik9797]

They looked for Prince Albert while building it, but couldn't find him. It was later revealed that he had been in the can.

[@-oiiio-3993]

Let him out!

[@peacefamily212]

Thank you your videos are fab! Best Wishes x

[@Snoozefor10minutes]

The glass house in lalbagh botanical garden in bangalore was inspired from this, built by British. Its not as massive as this is

[@giovannirodriguesdasilva646]

We have one in brazil too, in the city of Curitiba is a Botanical Garden, a classic tourist spot in the city, not nearly as big of course

[@TwoWholeWorms]

The film of the Crystal Palace burning down is one of the most saddening things I've ever seen in my life.

[@pickledbushman]

When you see these numbers for attendance, and theyre "big" numbers.... it kinda puts into perspective gamers who stream to 100k people at the same time. Give you an idea of how huge they are.

[@Wasserfeld.]

Living 10 mins walk away from Crystal Palace Park it's always weird walking around the grounds of the Palace. It's the closest thing we have to Roman ruins in South London lol. I do wish they spent some money on the grounds and made it much nicer. You can also walk along the old railway line through Sydenham Woods that closed as a result of the Palace burning down.

[@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan]

"Derbyshire in the North Of England", someones from the South.

[@Jack-hg1hq]

so how would you describe it then

[@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan]

@@Jack-hg1hq "it's in the south" - Someone from the North

[@Jack-hg1hq]

@@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan I'm very confused, so your from the north or south?

[@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan]

@@Jack-hg1hq I'm from Derby. Northerners tell me I'm Southern, and Southerners tell me I'm Northern.

[@Jack-hg1hq]

@@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan ah, I live near stockport and have the same issue, people from newcastle think we are basically londoners, people from london think we are practically scottish, I say we are north west/ midlands depending where in derbyshire

[@--enyo--]

Thanks, I really found this fascinating.

[@thomaszielke866]

Megaprojects idea: The Amber Room.

[@LisaBowers]

Your wish was granted today!

[@redhotchilipapa5388]

Megamystery: no really, where did ze Germans hide that thing?

[@itznotmytube]

This was the very first Simon Whistler video I ever watched, and for a few glorious months, this was the only channel I thought he had. Those were the days... allegendly :D

[@oskar27971]

A suggestion, Chicago 1893 World’s Fair.

[@hieronymus..bosch8532]

The little maze is amusing, & once in a while road racing is brilliant

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

the site of the crystal palace also saw some racing events back in the 50's and 60's

[@highpath4776]

I went once to a motobike racing weekend. The track became too small for the speeds being achieved by cars and bikes and places like Brands Hatch and Goodwood used instead.

[@AL_THOMAS]

@@highpath4776 They still hold racing meets around a smaller track today with mostly timed sprint races and classic cars.

[@Jasx_501]

Something that would be helpful in these videos is the inclusion of a visible timeline with major talking points marked so we can follow along and guage the time gaps. Sometimes it's hard to follow with so much information being talked about.

[@Joe-pj7wh]

That beard seems to be growing extremely fast...

[@jeffk464]

starting to get annoying to look at

[@Joe-pj7wh]

@EmperorJuliusCaesar agreed.

[@BarbadosBeerFestival]

Allegedly.... lol

[@EthelredHardrede-nz8yv]

I think he is fluffing it before shooting. He wants the ZZTop fans.

[@markchip1]

I was thinking its style was somewhat "Romanov"...

[@PMI551]

Excellent video. Phenomenal orator.

[@keitadarkwolf2591]

How about the Sagrada Familia? The cathedral more than 100 years in the making.

[@christophermerlot3366]

Hell yeah. Have you been there? It's amazing.

[@Claytone-Records]

Gaudi.

[@TheBnjmnlrd]

Don't we all limp out badly scarred nations. A wonderful point of oration. I regularly enjoy your turn of phrase sir.

[@H0901-l4u]

Beard goals right there 😍🔥

[@xaquko9718]

Moustache goals in your profile pic.

[@H0901-l4u]

@@xaquko9718 haha that ain't me in real life, but a moustache like it would be sweet as!

[@peteyank]

Not sure if it would be best for Megaprojects or maybe Geographics or even TIFO, but I would love to see you do a video on the Love Canal disaster, as I grew up essentially down the road from it.

[@hagerty1952]

I love how you say "Empiaah". And, BTW, all empires were built on brutal suppression. People really don't want to be subjugated. BTW, I wish you'd clarified one thing. If the building was famously built of glass and iron, what, exactly, was burning?

[@phantomechelon3628]

Probably the exhibits. He said it started with an explosion in a cloakroom. Depending on what was in there, it could've got hot enough to melt even iron & glass.

[@bourbonn.pearls3151]

I liked this solely for the fact you said you didn't support ANY football teams. You go, you.

[@pamelamays4186]

The Blaze has found its way into Simon's other channels.

[@MrTruehoustonian]

I know it's horrible

[@LSSYLondon]

It's wonderful!

[@wollyxl]

Birkenhead Park is in Birkenhead situated on the Wirral next to Liverpool

[@Robert-rt9ho]

I have to say Simon I don’t know why but this channel is my favourite of yours this then bio and geo graphics and of course today I found out and top tenz

[@demonflowerchild]

you forgot business blaze!

[@adarian]

Business Blaze is just so good.

[@demonflowerchild]

@@adarian definitely Simons best channel

[@--enyo--]

Actually, I've gone off Business Blaze over the last month or so. Like the OP I came to Simon's channels through Biographics then Geographics. I really liked Megaprojects from when it started as well. I used to really like Business Blaze, to the extent it rivalled the others for first place, because I was learning interesting stuff about business (not an area I'm too familiar with), and it was hilarious. If the main story was the cake, Simon going off crazy was the icing and Sam's meme's were the cream. But recently it's almost just TopTenz, and basically all icing and cream, no cake. Sure, this is great once in a while, but I preferred it a few months previous. But it doesn't matter too much. There's still Megaprojects, Biographics, & Geographics for me to enjoy. This is just my opinion. I'm glad other people are still enjoying it.

[@TheLexiconDevils]

Blazing while allegedly coked up playing an imaginary drum kit swearing like a Tourette’s riddled Rick Astley