CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE

    One of London's most attractive monuments stands near the Thames, opposite the elegant Savoy Hotel. This obelisk flanked by sphinxes is deemed to have pernicious powers because, according to legend, it contributed to Cleopatra's suicide. In fact, it was an Egyptian gift to England in 1829 and is actually dated 1500 BC. It has a twin which now stands in Central Park in New York.