Eiffel Tower: Facts, History, Timeline, and Resources
History of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower structure designed and built by the French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel and erected in the Champ-de-Mars for the Paris exposition of 1889. The tower is 984 ft high and consists of an iron framework supported on four masonry piers, from which rise four columns uniting to form one shaft. Three platforms at different heights are reached by stairs and elevators. On the top of the tower are a meteorological station, a wireless station, and a television transmission antenna. With a height of 300 metres (984 ft), it was the tallest man-made structure for many years.
Eiffel Tower Fun Facts
When did work begin on The Eiffel Tower: January 26, 1887
When was The Eiffel Tower completed: March 31, 1889
Who Built The Eiffel Tower:
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was the main architect
Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier were the main engineers
Stephen Sauvestre was the main architect
Jean Compagnon handled the construction of the Eiffel Tower
How tall is The Eiffel Tower: 324 meters tall
What is The Eiffel Tower made of: wrought iron
How much iron was used to build The Eiffel Tower: It was made using 9441 tons of wrought iron
How many pieces of iron is used to build The Eiffel Tower: A total of 18038 pieces of wrought iron were joined together to create the Eiffel Tower
How much paint is needed to paint The Eiffel Tower: Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint the Eiffel Tower
How often is The Eiffel Tower painted: every 7 years in 3 shades of brown
How many steps does The Eiffel Tower have: The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1710 steps to the topmost third level small platform, 674 steps to the second level, and 347 steps to the first level.
Quick Fact: The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure when it was built, but this has been surpassed over the years
Quick Fact: During gusty winds, the Eiffel Tower sways up to 15 cm at its summit
Quick Fact: The Eiffel Tower has 2.5 million rivets
Quick Fact: The Eiffel Tower has a sway of at most 12 cm in high winds.
Quick Fact: The Eiffel Tower’s Height varies up to 15 cm depending on temperature.
Quick Fact: Even today painting the Eiffel Tower is done using brushes
Timeline of Events at the Eiffel Tower
September 10, 1889: Thomas Edison visited the tower. He signed the guest book with the following message—
1910: Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower, discovering at the top more than was expected, and thereby detecting what are today known as cosmic rays.
February 4, 1912: Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping 60 meters from the first deck of Eiffel tower with his home-made parachute.
1914: a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications during the lead-up to the First Battle of the Marne
1925: The con artist Victor Lustig “sold” the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.
1930: The tower lost the title of the world’s tallest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.
1925 to 1934: Illuminated signs for Citroen adorned three of the tower’s four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.
January 3, 1956: A fire damaged the top of the tower.
1957: The present radio antenna was added to the top.
1980s: A restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; it was purchased and reconstructed in Garden District of New Orleans, Louisiana, by John Onorio and Daniel Bonnot, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, now as the Cricket Club.
March 31, 1984: Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza through the arches of the tower.
1987: A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
October 27, 1991: Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures of bungee jump from the second floor of the Tower.
New Year’s Eve 1999: The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris’ Millennium Celebration.
November 28, 2002: The tower received its 200,000,000th guest.
2004: The Eiffel Tower began hosting an ice skating rink on the first floor each winter.
Replications of the Eiffel Tower Around the World
As of now there are close to 30 known replicas of the Eiffel tower around the world. They vary in height, but all are in tribute to this great structure.
1. Da Lat, Vietnam. Design to used as Viettel telecommunications tower
2. Tokyo Tower in Minato Tokyo, Japan
3. In front of the Paris Las Vegas hotel/casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Paradise, Nevada
4. Eiffel Tower of Window of the World, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
5. Eiffel Tower of Tiandu City Community, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
6. Kings Island Amusement Park, Mason, Ohio
7. Kings Dominion Amusement Park, Doswell, Virginia
8. Slobozia, Romania
9. In Parizh, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. Built by South Ural Cell Telephone company as a cellphone tower
10. In Zoo, Copenhagen, Denmark. Wooden replica
11. Watkin’s Tower in London, England, UK
12. Fayetteville, North Carolina
13. Walt Disney World’s EPCOT theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
14. Eiffel Tower (Paris, Tennessee) in Paris, Tennessee
As a Meccano model, housed at the SciTrek technology museum in Atlanta, Georgia
15. On the roof of the catering company Rungis Express in Meckenheim and Satteldorf, Germany
16. Centerpiece of the Falconcity of Wonders
17. Inwald Miniature Park, Inwald, Poland
18. Mini-Europe, Brussels, a 12.96 m model
19. Model on the roof of the Rue De Paris cafe in Brisbane, Australia
20. Montmartre, Saskatchewan
21. Model in the First World Plaza shopping mall in Genting Highlands, Malaysia
22. In Austin, Texas there is a 7.5 m (25 ft) tall replica at the Dreyfus Antique Shop.
23. An 18 m model in Filiatra, Messinia, Greece, at the entrance of the village
24. Paris, Michigan; in a park
25. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sahil Trade Center, at “Parfums de France” shop.
26. Golden Sands sea resort in Varna, Bulgaria — A tower with a ratio of 1:10 to the original is built in the town as a tourist attraction.
27. Aktau, Kazakhstan — model at the front of the office of Oil Construction Company
28. Satteldorf near Crailsheim, Germany. On the top of a company building
29. In 2007 the Lego company released a 1:300 scale model of the Eiffel tower as a set.
Resources About the Eiffel Tower
Paris.org information about the Eiffel Tower.
Thinkquest.org information about the Eiffel Tower.
Restaurant at the Eiffel Tower
I am a mom of 2 boys who loves to spend time with them doing fun things outdoors. In my spare time I have my own things I enjoy doing such as gardening, reading old books, and being a closet history buff.
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