15 Eiffel Tower Facts: History, Science, and Secrets (original) (raw)

The Eiffel Tower — or, la Tour Eiffel — has long been one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, symbolizing the romance and ingenuity of the City of Light. Designed as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair, it was meant to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution and highlight France's modern industrial prowess on the world stage.

And that it did. The tower's construction — finished in just two years, two months, and five days — was considered a marvel of precision and speed. Gustave Eiffel's civil engineering firm used a whopping 7,300 tons of iron and 2.5 million rivets, and the result stood triumphant over the Champs de Mars, receiving more than two million visitors during the fair.

There’s more to this iconic landmark than meets the eye. Despite the more than 300 million people who have visited since its debut, La Dame de Fer still has a few secrets to share. Here are some of our favorite little-known facts about the Eiffel Tower.

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The Eiffel Tower almost wasn't built.

While the now-famous silhouette has been emulated worldwide in places like Las Vegas, Prague, Tianducheng (China), and Paris, Texas, the design wasn’t without its detractors. A "Protest against the Tower of Monsieur Eiffel” letter, signed by the likes of Guy de Maupassant (who famously dined at the Eiffel Tower's restaurant every day so he wouldn't have to look at it), Alexandre Dumas, and other well-known artists, was published in the newspaper Le Temps before the project’s completion. The letter argued that the tower would be “a gigantic black factory chimney, its barbarous mass overwhelming and humiliating all our monuments and belittling our works of architecture, which will just disappear before this stupefying folly.”

Of course, in defiance of such protests, the Eiffel Tower did see the light of day and has stood the test of time. It remains one of the most visited monuments in the world, welcoming almost seven million visitors a year.

There’s a penthouse apartment at the top.

Gustave Eiffel reserved the uppermost level of the tower for himself, where he hosted famous guests like Thomas Edison in a private apartment that he designed. The space has since been transformed into a recreation of Eiffel's office — complete with wax figures of himself, his daughter, and Edison — and is open to the public.

Gustave Eiffel didn’t actually design it.

While the Eiffel Tower is named for him, it was really Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, two engineers who worked for his company, who designed the structure. They also commissioned French architect Stephen Sauvestre to work on the appearance of the project as a way to quell public concerns about the harsh, utilitarian nature of its original design. They ultimately beat out more than 100 other projects in a contest to choose the main attraction of the 1889 World's Fair.

The Eiffel Tower was supposed to be torn down.

The Eiffel Tower was built with the intent of flaunting France's industrial strength during the 1889 World's Fair, and the original plan was to tear it down after 20 years. That was until Eiffel cleverly incorporated a radio antenna and wireless telegraph transmitter into the tower's design. After proving radio’s usefulness to the government in 1910, Eiffel was granted a 70-year extension to his lease. By 1980, of course, the site had become an indelible symbol of both Paris and France and was in no danger of demolition.

It was almost destroyed during World War II.

In August 1944, as the Nazis were losing control of occupied Paris, Adolf Hitler commanded his generals to level the city and plans were drawn up to mine the Eiffel Tower with explosives. Thankfully, Allied troops swooped in before the order could be carried out. Subsequent air raids over Paris caused significant damage, but the Eiffel Tower managed to survive the war intact.

There's a Statue of Liberty connection.

As sculptorFrédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was designing his masterpiece, "Liberty Enlightening the World," he called upon his mentor, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, to design the statue’s internal framework. After Viollet-le-Duc died in 1879, Bartholdi turned to Eiffel and Koechlin. They proved their iron expertise with Lady Liberty before moving on to the Iron Lady (as the Eiffel Tower is also known).

The Eiffel Tower has housed a post office and a theater.

Throughout the years, the Eiffel Tower has been home to several businesses, many of which are now gone. These include the French newspaper Le Figaro, which occupied an office on the second floor for six months during the 1889 World's Fair, and on the first floor, a post office, a radio station, and a wooden theater designed by Sauvestre.

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It has also doubled as a scientific laboratory.

Eiffel, an avid scientist, ran a meteorology lab on the tower's third floor. He was known to perform studies in physics and aerodynamics there, even building a wind tunnel at the foot of the structure. He also opened the doors of the laboratory for other scientists to use for their own experiments.

The Eiffel Tower moves.

The massive iron structure is wind-resistant and will sway during a storm. The wind isn't the only thing that can make the enormous tower move, though — the heat of the sun causes the iron to expand, making the Tower grow a few centimeters during the summer months. It also leans an average of six inches away from the sun, as the one side facing the direct light heats up faster than the other three sides.

It's covered in the names of scientists.

The names of French scientists and engineers working throughout the 19th century were not forgotten by history — not only are they attached to several Parisian streets, but 72 of them are also engraved on the Eiffel Tower. The tributes were painted over in the early 20th century, but thanks to a restoration effort in the late 1980s, they are once again visible. Eagle-eyed visitors can see names like Foucault, Dumas, and Perrier cut into the iron surrounding the tower's first floor.

It takes a lot of work to keep the landmark looking good.

To protect against the effects of air pollution, bird droppings, and rust, among other factors that could tarnish it, a group of 50 specially trained painters maintain the structure. They regularly inspect the Eiffel Tower for corrosion, strip worn sections away, apply several coats of anti-rust primer, and cover the metallic tower in 60 tons of paint — all by hand, as it was traditionally done in Eiffel’s time. The full process can take anywhere from 18 months to three years depending on weather conditions, as it gets interrupted any time temperatures are too cold or the tower is wet, which makes it difficult for the paint to set.

The Eiffel Tower’s sparkling lights are copyrighted art.

The Eiffel Tower’s first light show coincided with the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in 1925. Automaker Andre Citröen financed a 200,000-bulb show that featured a shower of stars, alternating Zodiac symbols, comets, and (naturally) his car brand’s name during the finale.

Another show, featuring 336 yellow-orange spotlights, came 60 years later, while the now-famous sparkling light show, consisting of 20,000 bulbs, first lit up the night sky on New Year’s Eve of 1999 to ring in the new millennium. Today, you can see it nightly for the first five minutes of every hour starting at 8 p.m. (depending on the time of year and how dark it is), with a 10-minute grand finale display at 1 a.m.

While the Eiffel Tower itself is in the public domain, its illumination is protected by copyright under French law. That said, don’t call your lawyer just yet, as this stipulation only applies to pictures taken for professional use. It's not illegal to snap any personal photos of the Eiffel Tower and its incredible nighttime light display as you please.

There’s a Champagne bar at the top.

If you're brave enough to climb the stairs to the top of the tower, reward yourself with a glass of bubbly from the Champagne Bar. There's nothing like a bit of celebratory sparkle to accompany the spectacular views.

This wasn't Gustave Eiffel's only major project.

While Eiffel is best known for being the man behind the famous French tower and for his contributions toward the Statue of Liberty (mentioned above), he also helped to design several major bridges, railways, and viaducts throughout Europe. Among his most notable achievements are the Maria Pia bridge in Porto, Portugal; Nyugati (Western) Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary; Pont de les Piexateries Velles in Girona, Spain; and the Côte d'Azur Observatory’s dome in Nice, France.

The Eiffel Tower was once the tallest building in the world.

At the time of its grand opening in 1889, the Eiffel Tower became the tallest building in the world, standing proudly over Paris at 312 meters (1,024 feet) and overtaking the Washington Monument's record of 169 meters (554 feet). Forty years later, however, New York City’s Chrysler Building emerged at 319 meters (1,046 feet), holding the new record until the Empire State Building’s debut in 1931 at a whopping 381 meters (1,250 feet). Nevertheless, it’s quite an accolade to have held the title for 40 years.