The dome of Les Invalides was a direct influence on the U.S. Capitol dome, after the designer Thomas U. Walter visited here and was impressed by it.

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Les Invalides, or more officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides (French for "The National Residence of the Invalids"), is a series of museums and crypts dedicated to French military history.

Under the central dome of the structure is the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), whose remains were repatriated here in 1840, and then placed in their present tomb (made of red quartzite and resting on a green granite base) in 1861.

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Nobel laureate and president of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918-Dec 5, 2013), served 18 years of his 27 years in prison for sabotage against the apartheid government on Robben Island off the coast of South Africa.

21 years in captivity
Shoes too small to fit his feet
His body abused, but his mind is still free
You're so blind that you cannot see-
"Nelson Mandela", The Specials

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Boasting the tallest cathedral spire in the United Kingdom (23m/404 ft), the Salisbury Cathedral was completed from 1220 to 1258.

In addition, the cathedral contains the world's oldest working clock (circa 1386) and has the best surviving of the four original copies of the Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta (written in 1215) was one of the first documents where individuals, i.e. feudal barons, asserted their rights against divine monarchy. The lineage of the document can be directly linked to the American Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, among other documents.

In other news, Jay-Z was inspired by the lines in the Magna Carta for his new album MC/HG: "To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay, right or justice."

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On September 30, 1987 at the Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Cinemax filmed the special "Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night."

Put together by musical director T-Bone Burnett, the band consisted of Elvis's backing band from 1969 to 1977: Glen D. Hardin on piano, James Burton on lead guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass, and Ronnie Tutt on drums.

Other performers included Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, and Steven Soles. The female background vocalists were k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, and Bonnie Raitt.

The special aired on January 3, 1988. Roy Orbison died on December 6, 1988 at the age of 52.

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