Did You Know …
that the Eiffel Tower was finished on March 31, 1889 for Paris Exposition Universelle, was intended to be temporary, and that the iron structure is celebrated every year on this day.
that a con artist named Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower twice!
that Gustave Eiffel, who designed the towering structure, also designed interior elements of the Statue of Liberty, and that he died while listening to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
that the French military used the Eiffel Tower to intercept enemy messages from Berlin during World War I, and one instance includes Operative H-21, which was the code name of Mata Hari. This intel led to the capture and execution of the suspected German spy.
that at nearly 1,000 feet high, it was the tallest building in the world until 1930, when the Chrysler Building was built, but eventually the Empire State Building was built and became the tallest.
that the Eiffel Tower is painted in an ombre pattern, dark at the top and lighter on the bottom, to “counteract atmospheric perspective.”
that in 2008 a woman ‘married’ the Eiffel Tower and changed her name to Erika La Tour Eiffel to commemorate the union.
