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Learn about the history, construction, and symbolism of the Eiffel Tower, the most visited monument in the world. Discover its structure, material, height, and how it became a landmark of Paris and France.
- The Eiffel Tower Was Once Yellow
- It Was Built to Celebrate The Centennial of The French Revolution
- For Four Decades It Was The World’S Tallest Structure
- The Eiffel Tower Was Once The World’S Largest Billboard
- Gustave Eiffel Designed Part of Another Famous Landmark
- Parisian Artists Petitioned Against The “Monstrous” Structure
- Radio Saved The Eiffel Tower from Destruction
- The Eiffel Tower Contributed to The Capture of Mata Hari
- The Tower Housed A Scientific Laboratory
- Daredevils Have Died Attempting Aerial Feats at The Tower
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In fashionable Paris, even the Eiffel Tower must keep up with style trends. Over the decades, the “Iron Lady” has changed her looks with the application of a spectrum of paint colors. When it opened in 1889, the Eiffel Tower sported a reddish-brown color. A decade later, it was coated in yellow paint. The tower was also yellow-brown and chestnut br...
Organizers of the 1889 Exposition Universelle, which commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the fall of the Bastille and the launch of the French Revolution, staged an open competition to design a spectacular centerpiece to their world’s fair. Out of 107 proposals, they selected the design submitted by Eiffel along with architect Stephen Sauvestr...
At 986 feet, the Eiffel Tower was nearly double the height of the world’s previous tallest structure—the 555-foot Washington Monument—when it opened in 1889. It would not be surpassed until the completion of the 1,046-foot Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Although the Eiffel Tower eclipsed the Chrysler Building in height with the addition of ...
When dusk fell across Paris between 1925 and 1936, a quarter-million colored bulbs attached to three sides of the tower’s steeple illuminated to spell the 100-foot vertical letters of the French automobile company Citroën. The advertisement blazed so brightly that it was visible from nearly 20 miles away, and Charles Lindbergh used it as a beacon w...
When the initial designer of the Statue of Liberty’s interior elements died suddenly in 1879, French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi hired Eiffel as his replacement. Already renowned as a structural engineer and railway bridge designer, Eiffel designed the skeletal support system to which the statue’s copper skin is affixed. (Today, a scale mod...
Although now a worldwide symbol of romance, the radical design of the Eiffel Tower inspired anything but love in the hearts of 300 prominent Parisian artists and intellectuals who signed the following manifesto that ran in the Le Temps newspaper on Valentine’s Day in 1887: “We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects, passionate lovers of the beau...
Since Eiffel footed 80 percent of the tower’s construction costs, he was permitted to have the structure stand for 20 years in order to recoup his investment before it passed into the hands of the Parisian government, which planned to disassemble it for scrap metal. Seeking a way to prove the structure’s strategic utility in a bid to save it, Eiffe...
During World War I, the French military used the tower’s wireless station to intercept enemy messages from Berlin. In 1914, the French were able to organize a counter-attack during the Battle of the Marne after secretly learning that the German Army was halting its advance. Three years later, the station atop the Eiffel Tower intercepted a coded me...
Eiffel engraved the names of 72 of the country’s scientists in the tower’s first-level gallery, and atop the structure he installed a laboratory that was used by himself and French scientists to study astronomy, meteorology, aerodynamics and physiology and test experiments such as Foucault’s Pendulum. In 1909 Eiffel installed an aerodynamic wind tu...
Using everything from parachutes to bungee cords, adventurers for decades have used the tower to stage daring stunts. Not all the thrill-seekers have defied death, however. In 1912, French tailor Franz Reichelt attempted to fly from the tower’s first floor with a spring-loaded parachute suit but crashed 187 feet to the ground instead. Fourteen year...
Learn surprising facts about the Paris icon, from its original color to its role in World War I. Discover how the tower was built, painted, illuminated and used for science and espionage.
- It was controversial. Contemporary critics initially described the design as “monstrous”, “useless”, “ridiculous” and a "hateful column of bolted sheet metal” and an official petition was launched to try and stop its construction.
- It was originally designed as an entrance. Built for the 1889 World’s Fair, the tower was originally a monumental gateway like the Arc de Triomphe, as well as a showpiece for new revolutionary iron-lattice architecture.
- It is painted different colors. The Eiffel Tower is painted in three different shades of brown, with the darkest shade on the top and the lightest on the bottom.
- It shrinks in winter. Cold weather causes the metal of the tower to shrink, while heat makes it expand. The difference in the height of Eiffel Tower can be up to 15 centimeters.
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- 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.
- Gustave Eiffel didn’t design the tower. While the tower is named for Eiffel, it was actually Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier — two engineers who worked for his company — who designed the structure.
- The Eiffel Tower was supposed to be torn down after 20 years. The tower was built with the intent of showing off France's industrial prowess during the World's Fair, but the plan was to tear it down after 20 years.
- The Eiffel Tower 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.
- The Eiffel Tower Is the Tallest Building in Paris. Standing at 803 meters, or 1,083 feet, tall it is the equivalent of an 81-story building. When it was unveiled during the Paris World's Fair in 1889, it was the tallest building in the world!
- Its Height Changes. Depending on the season, the Eiffel Tower can be up to seven inches taller or six inches shorter. During hotter months, over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, to be exact, the iron expands and causes the tower to be about seven inches taller.
- It Was Supposed To Be Demolished. 20 years after its assembly, the tower was supposed to be torn down! It was only supposed to be a display of the industrial mastery of France during the World Fair.
- The Tower Was Once Yellow. In order to preserve the wrought iron from any natural elements, the tower was once given a coat of yellow paint. However, since 1968 the official color has been "Eiffel Tower Brown" with the top being somewhat darker than the bottom, giving the tower an ombre effect.
May 27, 2024 · Eiffel Tower, wrought-iron structure in Paris that is among the most famous landmarks in the world. It is also a technological masterpiece in building-construction history. It was designed and built (1887–89) by Gustave Eiffel and named in his honor. Quick facts.
May 25, 2020 · straightforward. It’s been called everything from ridiculous to record-breaking, and has been the home of secret apartments and tragic accidents. These ten amazing facts about the Eiffel Tower will shed a little light on the icon’s secret history. 1. It was controversial.
