The Sydney Opera House opened 41 years ago, following 14 years of construction, on October 20, 1973. Queen Elizabeth formally opened the opera house (Ah, imperialism!), along with fireworks and a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Though its name might suggest otherwise, the distinctive "shell"-topped structure in Sydney Harbor actually contains multiple performance venues, which enable it to host over 1,500 performances a year with annual audiences of over a million. Its four primary tenants are a local opera, ballet, theater company and symphony orchestra.

The largest venue in the house is the 2,679-seat Concert Hall, which houses a massive 10,000-pipe grand organ. The site played a key role in the triathlon when the 2000 Olympics came to Sydney, and last December it hosted New Year's fireworks for the first time in a decade in honor of its 40th anniversary. The site has become one of Australia's most famous landmarks and most popular attractions, with over 7 million annual visitors.

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