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Construction - The tower was built as an archway entrance to the 1889 World Fair and wasn't originally intended as a permanent fixture.

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Timeline -

Construction took a total of two years, two months, and five days.

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How many visitors? - It's estimated that the Eiffel Tower gets an annual number of seven million visitors from all over the world.

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WWII - When Hitler marched into Paris in 1940, the defeated French forces made sure the tower's elevator cables had been cut, forcing the dictator to take the steps if he wanted to reach the top.

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Demolition -

The Eiffel Tower was supposed to be demolished in 1909. However, the decision was overturned when it began to be used as a huge radio antenna.

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Sold! - In 1925, the highly skilled and infamous Austro-Hungarian con artist Victor Lustig forged official documents with the purpose of selling the Eiffel Tower to scrap dealers.

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Barcelona -

Did you know the Eiffel Tower was originally intended for the city of Barcelona? However, Eiffel's design was rejected by the Catalan city, thinking it would be an eyesore. 

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Height - At the height of summer and with the full force of the sunlight beating down on it, the metal of the Eiffel Tower expands, adding up to 15 cm to its height.

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Test parachute - Czech tailor, inventor, and parachute enthusiast Franz Reichelt is best remembered for plummeting to his death from the Eiffel Tower in 1912 while testing the prototype of a new kind of parachute.

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1,665 steps -

To reach the top of the Eiffel Tower without taking the elevator, you need to climb 1,665 steps. 

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Married - In 2007, an American woman named Erika Eiffel (née LaBrie) married the Eiffel Tower.

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Light - The Eiffel Tower has about 20,000 light bulbs installed.

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Replicas - There are about 30 replicas of the Eiffel Tower worldwide.

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Las Vegas - The most visited and best-known among them is probably the one in Las Vegas. The structure is predictably part of the Paris Hotel.

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Paint -

An estimated 60 tonnes of paint were used on the iconic structure. 

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Apartment - Gustave Eiffel, the tower's architect, built an apartment just for himself at the top of the tower.

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Watkin's Tower -

In 1891, the city of London wanted to build a tower similar to, but higher than, the Eiffel Tower. The ambitious project, however, was never finished. In 1907, the partially built structure was demolished. Currently, the site is occupied by Wembley Stadium. 

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Gustave Eiffel - Gustave Eiffel also played a huge role in the building of the Statue of Liberty. The civil engineer and architect built the metal framework.

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Highest in the world - At the time of its construction, the Eiffel Tower was going to be the highest building in the world. Today, that honor goes to the Burj Khalifa in the UAE, which is 828 m high.

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The numbers -

The entire construction of the tower would have taken the labor of 300 men, 18,083 pieces of iron, and 2.5 million rivets.

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Weight - The Eiffel Tower weighs approximately 7,300 tonnes.

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Costs - The construction of the tower cost about eight million French francs at the time.

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Accident - In June 1902, the Eiffel Tower was struck by lightning not once but three times, causing a lot of damage.

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Energy savings - The lights of the Eiffel Tower are switched off after 1 am to save energy.

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1889 -

The Eiffel Tower was unveiled in 1889, the same year Nintendo was founded and Adolf Hitler was born. 

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Photos at night - It's not allowed to film or photograph the tower at night. Images of an illuminated Eiffel Tower have been subject to copyright since 1985.

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Tragedy - Some 400 people have jumped to their death from the Eiffel Tower.

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Canada - In the sixties, the Eiffel Tower was almost moved to Canada. President De Gaulle and the then-mayor of Montreal had agreed in secret on its transfer for the 1967 World Fair, to be held in the French-speaking city. However, the company that owned the tower vetoed it, fearing that if the tower left France, it might never return.

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Climb -

On a normal day, about 25,000 people climb the Eiffel Tower.

See also: The northern lights: nature's most beautiful phenomenon

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