The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, [tuʁ ɛfɛl]) is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.98 million people ascended it in 2011. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second. The third level observatory's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground, the highest accessible to the public in the European Union Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. Although there are stairs to the third and highest level, these are usually closed to the public and it is generally only accessible by lift.

Subsequent events :

1900

The lifts in the east and west legs replaced by lifts running as far as the second level constructed by the French firm Fives-Lille. At the same time the lift in the north pillar was removed.

19 October 1901

“Alberto Santos-Dumont” in his “Dirigible” No.6 won a 10,000-franc prize offered by “Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe” for the first person to make a flight from “St. Cloud” to the Eiffel tower and back in less than half an hour.

1910

Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are today known as cosmic rays.

4 February 1912

Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping metres from the first level of the tower to demonstrate his parachute design.

1913

The lift in the south pillar was removed.

1914

In the opening weeks of “World War I” a radio transmitter located in the tower “jammed” German radio communications. This seriously hindered their advance on Paris, and contributed to the Allied victory at the “First Battle of the Marne”.

1925

The con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.

February 1926

Pilot Leon Collet was killed after flying beneath the arch of the tower. His aircraft was entangled in an aerial belonging to the wireless station.

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 Citroën adorned three of the tower's four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.

1935

In April the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions, using a short wave transmitter of only 200 watts power. On 17 November an improved 180 line transmitter was installed. 

1940 to 1944

Upon the “German occupation” of Paris in 1940 the lift cables were “cut” by the French so that “Adolf Hitler” would have to climb the steps to the summit. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of “the war”. In 1940 German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the “swastika” but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang “the French flag”. In August 1944, when the “Allies” were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General “Dietrich von Choltitz”  the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. Some say Hitler was later persuaded to keep the tower intact so it could later be used for communications. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the “Liberation of Paris.[citation needed]”.

3 January 1956

A fire damaged the top of the tower.

1957

The present radio antenna was added to the top.

1965

Due to increasing visitor numbers an additional lift system was installed in the north pillar.

1967

According to interviews, Montreal Mayor “Jean Drapeau”  negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67 The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company which operated the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored to its original location.

1982

The original lifts between the second and third levels replaced after 97 years service. These had been closed to the public between between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The cars operate in pairs with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage. reducing the time taken from eight minutes to less than two minutes. At the same time two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases.

31 March 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, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the Paris police upon reaching the ground.

27 October 1991

Thierry Devaux  along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures of bungee jumping (not allowed) from the second floor of the Tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Thierry Devaux was using an electric winch between each figure to go back up. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.

New Year's Eve 1999

The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris's Millennium Celebration. Flashing lights and four high-power “searchlights” were installed on the tower, and fireworks were set off all over it. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor now commemorates this event. Since then, the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and the 20,000 flash bulbs give the tower a sparkly appearance every hour on the hour.

28 November 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.