Built: 1887-1889 for 1889 Universal Exhibition and Centennial of the French Revolution.
Engineers : Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier
Architect : Stephen Sauvestre
Contractor : Gustave Eiffel
Tower inaugurated: March 31, 1889
Number of Workers Killed during Construction: 1
Steps to Top: 1665 (Official Eiffel Tower Website)
Steps walkable by visitors 704 (Ground to 2nd floor)
Rivets: 2,500,000
Steel pieces: 18,038
Height: 300.51 meters (986 feet) (+/- 15 cm depending on temperature)
Height including television antenna: 320.755 meters (1052 feet)
Weight: 7,000 tons (1,000 tons removed during 1990's renovation)
Base: 412 feet square, although also noted as about 2.5 acres
Foundation Pressure: 58.26 to 64 psi (9000 psf)
Paint: 50 tons every 7 years
Paint Color: Dark Brown
Lighting : 352 projectors of 1000 watts
First TV transmission: 1957
First Radio Transmission: 1918
Maximum sway in wind: 12 cm
Visibility on a clear day: 67 kilometers (42 miles)
facts from here
-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower began on January 26, 1887
-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower was completed on March 31, 1889
-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days from start to finish
-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was the main architect, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier were the main engineers, Stephen Sauvestre was the main architect, and Jean Compagnon handled the construction of the Eiffel Tower
-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel is the very person who created the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty in the year 1885
-- The Eiffel Tower stands 324 meters tall
-- Material used for the Eiffel Tower is wrought iron (puddle iron) of the highest quality
-- The Eiffel Tower was made using 9441 tons of wrought iron
-- A total of 18038 pieces of wrought iron were joined together to create the Eiffel Tower
-- Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint the Eiffel Tower
-- The Eiffel Tower is painted every 7 years in 3 shades of brown (darkest shade at the bottom)
-- Even today painting the Eiffel Tower is done using brushes
-- In clear weather (very seldom seen today) you can see approximately 42 miles from the top of the Eiffel Tower
-- The base of the Eiffel Tower covers a square area of 100 meters
-- During gusty winds, the Eiffel Tower sways upto 15 cms at its summit
-- The names of 72 prominent French scientists and famous personalities are affixed on the sides of Eiffel Tower just beneath the first platform, 18 names per side
-- There was only one death during the construction period of the Eiffel Tower, that too outside working hours and not work related
-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel died on December 27, 1923 in Paris
-- The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1710 steps to the topmost third level small platform, 674 steps to the second level, and 347 steps to the first level, all counted from the ground
-- The Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled and the metal sold as scrap 20 years after it was constructed, but this never happened
-- The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure when it was built, but this has been surpassed over the years
-- Today, the Eiffel Tower is open to the public every day of the year
-- Persons on wheelchairs can visit the Eiffel Tower upto the second level using the elevator
-- You can use the steps only till the second platform (the third platform is accessible only via elevators)
-- The Eiffel Tower has got restaurants on the first and second platforms
-- The restaurant on the first platform is Altitude 95 and faces the river Seine
-- The restaurant on the second platform is named Jules Verne and needs prior booking
-- The Eiffel Tower belongs to the city of Paris and is given on a renewable contract to a limited company named Societe d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel
-- Over 200 million people have visited the Eiffel Tower since its inception
facts from here
Con #3
Ah! The con that would live in infamy.
In May of 1925, Lustig traveled to Paris with Dapper Dan Collins, another confidence man. While reading the newspaper one afternoon, Lustig noticed a small article in the paper that claimed that the Eiffel Tower was in great need of repair. The cost of the repair job was very prohibitive and there was a brief comment that the government was actually exploring the idea that it might be cheaper to rip it down than to repair it.
Ding!
A bell went off in Lustig’s head. He decided that he would be the one to sell the rights to tear down the tower. First, he had a counterfeiter create official government stationary and personally “appointed” himself to the official position of Deputy Director General of the Ministère de Postes et Télégraphes. Then, letters were sent on the official letterhead to five different scrap iron dealers. The letters were purposely vague and simply invited them to his hotel suite to discuss a possible government contract.
After entertaining these men for a bit at the hotel, Lustig made the surprise announcement that the government was indeed scrapping the Eiffel Tower. He noted that the tower had been built in 1889 and was never intended to be a permanent structure. He was careful to stress that this was a very controversial decision on the government’s part, so the men had to keep quiet regarding the tower’s demise or risk public outcry.
Four days later, all of the dealers submitted their bids. But, Lustig really didn’t care who offered the highest bid, only who was the best mark. The Count had already chosen a man named André Poisson as the lucky victim. Lustig informed Poisson that he was the winner, but hinted that there was still a bit of a problem. He described the life of a public servant, one in which they were expected to dress and entertain on a lavish scale, yet were paid a small pittance. Poisson quickly realized that Lustig was asking for a bribe and reached in his pocket and peeled off a few large bills from his pocket to secure the deal. Lustig took the bribe and gladly accepted Poisson’s rather handsome offer for the tower.
After the scheme was complete, Lustig and Dapper Dan quickly drove off to the haven of Austria. They made no attempt to hide themselves and lived the life of luxury at Poisson’s expense. Each day, Lustig checked the Paris newspapers for news of the rip-off. But it was to never happen. Lustig concluded that Poisson was too embarrassed for falling into Lustig’s trap and had decided to eat his loss. Lustig knew he was in the clear and headed back to Paris and pulled the same exact scam with five different scrap iron dealers.
Yes, you read it right. Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower a second time! But Lustig wasn’t as lucky this time. His mark went to the police and the story exploded in the press. Lustig was forced to leave Europe and head back to the United States. There would be no third sale of the tower.
story from here
[3] VICTOR LUSTIG, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE EIFFEL TOWER
* One of the most talented con artists who ever lived was Victor Lustig. Lustig had been born in Bohemia and gone west, demonstrating his talents even in his early twenties. He was a natural conman, glib and charming in multiple languages. He established himself by working scams on the ocean liners steaming between Paris and New York, but eventually decided to stay in Paris for a while and see what he could find there.
In 1925, France had recovered from the First World War and Paris was booming. Expatriates from all over the world went to Paris to enjoy being at the leading edge of the latest trends. It was flashy, fast moving, and an excellent environment for a con artist. Lustig's master con began one spring day when he was reading a newspaper. An article discussed the problems the city was having maintaining the Eiffel Tower. Even keeping it painted was an expensive chore, and the tower was becoming somewhat run down. Lustig saw a story behind this article. Maybe the city would decide the Eiffel Tower wasn't worth saving any longer. What would happen then? Lustig outlined the possibilities in his head, and realized they suggested a real opportunity.
Lustig adopted the persona of a government official, and had a forger produce fake government stationery for him. Lustig then sent six scrap metal dealers an invitation to attend a confidential meeting at the Hotel Creon to discuss a possible business deal. The Hotel Creon was a meeting place for diplomats and a perfect cover. All six scrap dealers replied and came to the meeting.
There, Lustig introduced himself as the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. He explained that the dealers had been selected on the basis of their good reputations as honest businessmen, and then dropped his bombshell. Lustig told the group that the upkeep on the Eiffel Tower was so outrageous that the city could not maintain it any longer, and wanted to sell it for scrap. Due to the certain public outcry, he went on, the matter was to be kept secret until all the details were thought out. Lustig said that he had been given the responsibility to select the dealer to carry out the task.
The idea was not as implausible in 1925 as it would be today. The Eiffel Tower had been built for the 1889 Paris Exposition and had not been planned as a permanent fixture; it was to have been taken down in 1909 and moved someplace else. It didn't fit with the city's other great monuments like the gothic cathedrals or the Arc de Triomphe, and in any case at the time it really was in poor condition.
Lustig took the men to the tower in a rented limousine to give them an inspection tour. The tower was made of 15,000 prefabricated parts, many of which were highly ornamental, and Lustig showed it off to the men. This encouraged their enthusiasm, and it also gave Lustig an idea who was the most enthusiastic and gullible. He knew how to be attentive and agreeable, and let people talk until they told him everything he wanted to know. Back on the ground, Lustig asked for bids to be submitted the next day, and reminded them that the matter was a state secret. In reality, Lustig already knew he would accept the bid from one dealer, Andre Poisson. Poisson was insecure, feeling he was not in the inner circles of the Parisian business community, and thought that obtaining the Eiffel Tower deal would put him in the big league. Lustig had quickly sensed Poisson's eagerness.
However, Lustig knew he was walking over dangerous ground. Fraud was bad enough, but the authorities would be very displeased at his impersonation of a high government official. Poisson's wife was suspicious: Who was this official, why was everything so secret, and why was everything being done so quickly? To deal with the suspicious Poisson, Lustig arranged another meeting, and then "confessed". As a government minister, Lustig said, he did not make enough money to pursue the lifestyle he enjoyed, and needed to find ways to supplement his income. This meant that his dealings needed a certain discretion. Poisson understood immediately: he was dealing with another corrupt government official who wanted a bribe. That put Poisson's mind at rest immediately, since he was familiar with the type and had no problems dealing with such people.
So Lustig not only received the funds for the Eiffel Tower, he also got a bribe on top of that. Lustig and his personal secretary, an American conman named Dan Collins, hastily took a train for Vienna with a suitcase full of cash. He knew the instant that Poisson called the government ministries to ask for further information the whole fraud would be revealed and the law would intervene.
Nothing happened. Poisson was too humiliated to complain to the police. A month later, Lustig returned to Paris, selected six more scrap dealers, and tried to sell the Eiffel Tower once more. This time, the mark went to the police before Lustig managed to close the deal, but Lustig and Collins still managed to evade arrest.
* There were others who made a profit selling civic landmarks. In the early 1920s, a fast-talking Scotsman named Arthur Ferguson found out that he could obtain a tidy profit by selling Americans visiting London such items as Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square (for the sum of 6,000 pounds), Big Ben (1,000 pounds for a down payment), and Buckingham Palace (2,000 pounds for a down payment).
Ferguson's success in suckering gullible American tourists suggested to him that America was indeed the land of opportunity, and so he emigrated there in 1925. He sold the White House to a rancher on the installment plan for yearly payments of $100,000 USD and tried to sell the Statue of Liberty to a visiting Australian, who went to the police. The authorities had been looking for the mysterious salesman of public landmarks, and Ferguson went to jail, to be released in 1930. He profitably continued his trade in Los Angeles until his death in 1938.
Lustig, too, finally emigrated to the US, and conducted a number of scams. Eventually his luck ran out. He was arrested for counterfeiting and sent to Alcatraz Prison. He died in 1947. The clerk who filled out his death certificate had to pause when he came to the entry titled OCCUPATION. He finally wrote: SALESMAN.
story from here
brainstorming (a thoroughly inappropriate term for this hour but anyway....)
Eiffel Tower. Paris. Steel Structure. Credit Crunch. Energy Costs. Theme Park. Climbing Frame. Ladder. Garden Lighting. Monument. Landmark. Scrap Metal. Land development.
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