10 facts about the Eiffel Tower

On March 31, 1889, 131 years ago, the grand opening of the Eiffel Tower took place in Paris. On this day, the designer Gustave Eiffel hoisted the French flag on top of the tower.

We present a dozen facts about the Eiffel Tower — the most recognizable architectural landmark of Paris, world-famous as a symbol of France.

When the huge tower was inaugurated in 1889, it was the highest structure on the planet. Already in 1930, this title was intercepted by the Chrysler skyscraper (pictured), overtaking the tower by 18 meters. Nevertheless, if you add the length of its 24-meter antenna to the height of the Eiffel Tower, then the Chrysler will be left behind. Nowadays, the Eiffel Tower occupies only the fifth place among high-rise buildings in France.

The Eiffel Tower looks monotonous, but this is an illusion of perspective. In fact, the structure is painted in three different shades. The darkest tone is used at the base of the building, and the lightest is used at the top. The tower is covered with 60 tons of paint every seven years to protect against corrosion.

Famous chef Alain Ducasse runs a gourmet restaurant on the second floor of the tower.

In 1912, the developer of the parachute coat decided to test his invention on the Eiffel Tower. The man jumped off the third platform of the structure and died.

Before surrendering Paris to the Germans during World War II, the French sabotaged the Eiffel Tower. They disabled the elevator so that the enemies could not enjoy the views of the city. But Hitler was not too lazy to climb the tower on foot. The elevators were repaired in 1944, and all Allied soldiers were allowed free entry to the top.

There are small copies of the Eiffel Tower in different parts of the world: in American Las Vegas, Chinese Gaungzhou and Shenzhen, Romanian Slobozia, in Copenhagen (Denmark), Varna (Bulgaria), Aktau (Kazakhstan) and other cities.

Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 outstanding French engineers, scientists and mathematicians of that time.

In 1925-1934, the Citroën automobile company used the four sides of the tower as a billboard. It was the biggest advertisement of those times.

Despite the height, only one person crashed during the installation of the tower.

Thomas Edison visited the Eiffel Tower and was extremely impressed by it. He wrote in the guestbook: "To Mr. Eiffel, an engineer, a brave builder of a huge and extraordinary creation of modern engineering art, from someone who admires all engineers, including the Great Engineer of the Lord God. Thomas Edison."