One of the most renowned landmarks of Paris, the Eiffel Tower celebrated its 130th birthday on 15th May. The occasion was marked by a beautiful light show.
Built for the World’s Fair of 1889 that commemorated 100 years of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower was first opened to the public on 15th May 1889. At that time, it was the tallest structure in the world and held that distinction for four decades until the Chrysler Building in New York was constructed in 1930. It is, though, still the tallest structure of Paris. It stands at a whopping 324 metres in height and weighs a massive 7,300 tonnes.
The tower is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and constructed the majestic structure.
The first digging work of the tower started on 28th January 1887. Interestingly, the tower was constructed in a record 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days! This was a defining moment in the Industrial Era and was possible due to the huge technological advancements.
To cater to the evergrowing public that comes to visit it, the structure has seen renovation and restoration work since the 1980s. Currently, it sees about 7 million visitors annually and this makes it the most visited monument that you have to pay for in the world.
Fun Fact about the tower: The tower was initially supposed to be destroyed in 20 years. However, Gustave Eiffel had a very interesting proposition to extend its life: to bring forth its scientific uses. Hence, he projected a tower as a structure through which meteorological and astronomical observations and physics experiments could be conducted.
Have you seen this beautiful structure yet? Let us know what you think about it.
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