The History of The Eiffel Tower
by So, how did the famous Eiffel Tower get there? Read on to find out…
The Eiffel Tower, standing tall and proud in Paris, France, has been welcoming visitors ever since July, 1889 when it first started construction. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who originally wanted to have it built in Barcelona for the Universal Exposition of 1888. But the city hall thought that it looked strange, considering the architect of the rest of their buildings. So Gustave submitted it in a contest in France, as an entrance arch to the World Fair of 1889. They accepted his design and gave him a 20 year permit. Which meant the tower would stand until 1909. In that year it would be tore down. But, the tower was used for communication purposes for the military. So they allowed it to keep on standing.
It is exactly 1,063 ft (324 m) tall! It was the world’s largest structure until the 1930s. The entire tower weighs over 10,000 tons. Another interesting fact is that the tall tower has to be covered in 50 to 60 tons of paint every seven years, to protect it from rusting. That’s a lot of paint!
Over 200,000,000 people have visited this amazing structure since it’s completion in 1889. Making it the most visited paid monument, in the world! Tourists have to wait 8 minutes and 50 seconds just to reach the second level (from the ground). Also in the Eiffel Tower are two restaurants. The first is Altitude 95, which is on the first floor. The second is Jules Verne. An expensive restaurant situated on the second floor.
Some interesting facts about the tower are; on September 10, 1889 Thomas Edison visited the tower and signed his name, and left a message, in the guest book. On February 4, 1912 an Australian tailor, Franz Reichelt, died after jumping from the first level of the tower. The tower lost the title of the world’s largest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed (1930) in New York, USA. When the Nazis captured Paris in 1940 – 1944, the French cut the cables to the cars so that Adolf Hitler would have to walk the stairs to the top.
I hope you enjoyed this little bit of world history!
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