New7Wonders Milestones

July 21, 2009	The 28 Official Finalist Candidates for The New7Wonders of Nature are announced at the New7Wonders headquarters in Zurich.
July 7, 2009	Voting ends for the New7Wonders of Nature Top 77 in a global flurry of excitement.
Jan. 7, 2009	The 266 nominees qualifying for the 2nd phase of the Official New7Wonders of Nature announced.
Dec. 31, 2008	441 nominees from 222 countries participate in the 1st national qualifier stage of the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign, in which voting ends at midnight.
Nov. 2008	Three children on a wooden boat in the Dead Sea represent one of the key principles of the N7W of Nature campaign: Nature does not respect human borders drawn on a map. The powerful symbolism of the children “in the same boat” in a region searching for peace moves many worldwide.
Sept. 2008	The introduction of a new national qualification round, which lets only the most-voted nominee per country continue in the campaign on Jan. 2009, is greeting with renewed energy and frenzied campaigning on all continents.
Aug. 2008	Visitors to the Beijing Olympics are greeted by friendly hosts encouraging them to visit the Great Wall of China, one of the Official New 7 Wonders of the World.
July 2008	New7Wonders all over the internet: Nominee Widgets launched and soon spotted on sites worldwide, soon followed by N7W on Facebook and the N7W Twitter.
July 7, 2008	To commemorate the first anniversary of the Official Declaration of the New 7 Wonders of the World, a video of Bernard Weber is posted on new7wonders.com and international media response is significant.
May 2008	The City of Lisbon announces its intention to obtain the exclusive rights to build an interactive monument on one of the major public spaces in the Portuguese capital, commemorating the first New7Wonders campaign as a milestone in democracy and peaceful global dialogue.
April 2008	On Earth Day, Bernard Weber underlines in the international media the importance of appreciating our natural heritage, as a first step to preserving it.
Feb. 2008	Bernard Weber announced as the keynote speaker at several conferences, including the Overseas Vote Foundation Summit in Munich.
Dec 2007	“The Making of the New 7 Wonders” DVD is launched on new7wonders.com.
Nov 2007	Featured on mainstream shows such as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in countries around the world, in comic strips, textbooks, encyclopedia, the “Global Memory” created by New7Wonders resonates at all levels across the globe.
Oct 2007	New7Wonders releases detailed voting analysis on new7wonders.com with surprising insights—such as the great participation of children in developing countries.
July 7, 2007	The Official Declaration of the New 7 Wonders of the World, chosen by more than 100 million votes worldwide, takes place at Benfica Stadium in Lisbon. Hilary Swank, Ben Kingsley and Bipasha Basu host the gala, which features Jennifer Lopez, Jose Carreras, Neil Armstrong and many more international personalities. The man-made Official New 7 Wonders of the World, in the random order they were announced: the Great Wall of China, Petra, the Statue of Christ Redeemer, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal.
Mar. 7, 2007	Bernard Weber launches the second N7W campaign, to choose the Official New7Wonders of Nature. The visit to the Statue of Liberty in New York on March 7 concludes the N7W World Tour. The N7W airship flies for the campaign’s last time during a snowstorm.
Feb. 7, 2007	With an event at the Statue of Christ Redeemer, the N7W World Tour reaches the Americas, then going to Easter Island, Machu Picchu and Chichen Itza.
Jan. 9, 2007	The N7W World Tour visits Timbuktu on Jan. 9, then Petra and the Pyramids.
Nov. 2006	The N7W World Tour begins its visits to the Asian Finalists at the Great Wall of China on Nov. 8, followed by Kiyomizu Temple, Sydney Opera House, Angkor Wat and finishing at the Taj Mahal on Dec. 5.
Sept. 2006	The N7W World Tour launches at the Acropolis on Sept. 5, continuing to the Hagia Sophia, St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, the Colosseum, Neuschwanstein, the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, ending its European leg at the Alhambra Oct. 24.
July 2006	Voting continues as the world prepares for the N7W World Tour and the build-up to the Official Declaration of the New 7 Wonders of the World on 07.07.07.
Jan. 2006	Huge global media response—more than 1,000 articles and TV features have run worldwide: more than 25 percent of global population aware of the N7W campaign.
Jan. 1, 2006	N7W 21 finalist candidates announced by Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor for N7W Panel of Experts (Cesar Pelli, Harry Seidler, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Yu Ho Chang, Aziz Tayob) at N7W headquarters in Le Corbusier museum in Zurich, Switzerland.
Dec. 2005	Grand total of 177 monuments nominated in the first New7Wonders campaign.
Aug. 2005	New7Wonders a highlight of Switzerland's pavilion at Expo 2005 in Aichi/Japan.
Jan. 2005	Voting and nomination windows extended due to great popular demand - nominations accepted until Dec. 24, 2005.
Dec. 2004	Former Director-General of UNESCO, Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza, named President of the New7Wonders Panel of Experts.
Aug. 2004	First flight of N7W hot-air balloon at the Acropolis in Athens.
July 2003	"Welt der Wunder" (German: "World of Wonders") TV program features N7W in 7th anniversary show on Pro7, a private TV channel in Germany. Record number of people call in to win trip to Easter Island.
June 2003	South China Morning Post full-page article comments on unexpectedly large Chinese participation in N7W.
May 2001	Application filed for New7Wonders Foundation to become an official, Swiss-registered charitable foundation.
May 2001	Bamiyan Buddha Reconstruction Project is born, founded by Bernard Weber for the New7Wonders Foundation and the Foundation Bibliotheca Afghanica.
Sept. 2000	One-millionth vote cast in the first New7Wonders campaign.
Sept. 2000	Official nomination of Sydney Opera House, with N7W seaplane landing in Sydney Harbour one week before 2000 Olympics opening, shown worldwide on CNN Huge interest caused first Internet overload for www.new7wonders.com.
June 2000	Launch of the official New7Wonders website, allowing a global vote via Internet.
Sept. 1999	Bernard Weber launches first New7Wonders website.