What is the Eiffel Tower?

Welcome to History's Not Boring! Join Mira and Finn as they travel back to Paris, France in 1887 to uncover the incredible story of the world's most famous monument! Did you know that when Gustave Eiffel first designed his giant iron tower for the 1889 World Fair, many people absolutely hated it? Artists and writers actually called it a "metal monstrosity" and begged the city to stop building it! But Gustave didn't give up. It took 300 brave workers exactly two years to rivet an amazing 18,038 pieces of iron together. When they finally finished, the Eiffel Tower stood over 1,000 feet tall, making it the tallest structure on Earth! The craziest part? It was supposed to be torn down and thrown away after just 20 years! Discover how top-secret radio antennas saved this mighty masterpiece from being turned into scrap metal, and how it eventually became the most visited paid monument in the entire world. Get ready for a towering historical adventure filled with sparks, science, and a whole lot of heavy iron!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira!

SPEAKER_01 0:05

And I'm Finn.

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Close your eyes, Finn, and imagine a giant metal monster. It weighs more than 10,000 tonnes, towers over a thousand feet in the air, and required two and a half million red-hot metal pins to hold it together.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

10,000 tonnes? That is like the weight of 2,000 elephants. What is this metal monster?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

It is one of the most famous buildings on the entire planet. But when it was first built, people hated it so much they begged the city to tear it down. They wanted to destroy it? Why? Because they thought it was the ugliest thing they had ever seen. Today we are travelling back to Paris, France, in the year 1887, to discover how the magnificent Eiffel Tower was built.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Wait, the Eiffel Tower? People thought the Eiffel Tower was ugly. No way.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Way! Grab your hard hat, Finn, because we are about to climb 1710 steps into the sky. To understand the story, we need to go to Paris, France. The year is 1887. The city is planning a massive party called the 1889 World's Fair. What exactly is a World's Fair? It was a giant exhibition where countries showed off their newest inventions, art, and buildings. This fair was super important because it celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

So they needed a really cool birthday present for the country.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Exactly! They held a huge contest. They wanted a monument that would be exactly 300 metres tall. That is about 1,000 feet. At the time, the tallest building in the world was the Washington Monument, which was only 555 feet.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Whoa! So they wanted to build something almost twice as tall as anything else on Earth? That sounds impossible.

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A brilliant engineer named Gustave Eiffel did not think it was impossible. He owned a company that built huge metal bridges, and he submitted a design for a colossal iron tower.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Did everyone love the idea right away?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Not at all. When Gustave Eiffel won the contest, the artists and writers of Paris completely freaked out. Fort seven of them signed a very angry petition, though they represented a protest group called the Committee of 300. The Committee of 300? What did the petition say? The petition called it a useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower that would look like a gigantic black smokestack ruining the beautiful city of Paris. As a general insult, the angry artists also called it a truly tragic street lamp.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Hahaha, a tragic street lamp? That is such a funny insult.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Gustave Eiffel just ignored them. He said his tower would be a symbol of modern science and industry. So, on January 26, 1887, he started digging. Building a thousand-foot iron tower right next to the same river was no joke. The ground was wet and soft. To build the massive foundations, the workers had to use special pressurized metal boxes called caissons to keep the river water out while they dug.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

That sounds really dangerous. How many workers did it take?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

About 300 men worked on the construction site, but the real magic happened in Eiffel's factory just outside of town. The tower wasn't just built, it was assembled like a giant, super complicated Lego set. Ooh, I love Lego. How many pieces were there? Exactly 18,038 individual pieces of puddle iron. And every single piece was drawn by engineers and manufactured to be accurate within a tenth of a millimetre.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

A tenth of a millimetre? That is as thin as a piece of paper. How did they stick all 18,000 pieces together?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

With rivets, 2.5 million rivets to be exact. A rivet is a metal pin that holds heavy steel and iron together, but it takes a four-man team to install just one. Four guys for one pin? Why? Because they had to be red hot. One worker, called the heater, would put the iron rivet in a fire until it was glowing bright red. Then he would use tongs to throw it to the second guy, the parser.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Wait, they threw glowing red hot pieces of metal through the air. High up on a tower.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yep, the parser caught it, slid it into the hole. The third man held it steady, and the fourth man smashed the other end with a heavy hammer. As the red hot metal cooled down, it shrank, locking the iron beams together forever.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

That is wild. I bet the noise of all those hammers was deafening.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

It was incredibly loud! And as the months passed, the iron monster grew higher and higher. The legs curved inward, rising into the sky. But lifting heavy iron hundreds of feet up was tricky.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah, they didn't have those giant modern cranes back then, right? How did they get the metal up there?

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Eiffel was a genius. He designed special creeper cranes that actually climbed up the tracks of the tower's own elevator shafts as it got taller. The cranes pulled up the metal pieces and the men kept riveting.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Doing that hundreds of feet in the air, with the wind blowing. Did anyone fall?

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Actually, Gustav Eiffel was obsessed with safety. He built strong wooden guardrails and platforms everywhere. Because of his strict rules, not a single worker died during the official working hours while building the tower.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Wow, for 1887, that is an incredible safety record.

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Finally, after two years, two months and five days of non-stop work, the tower was finished. On March 31, 1889, Gustave Eiffel celebrated by climbing all the way to the top to raise the French flag. Did he take the elevator? The elevators weren't ready yet. He had to climb 1,710 steps on foot. A bunch of reporters tried to follow him, but most of them gave up because they were too out of breath.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

1,700 steps? My legs ache just hearing that.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

When it opened, the Eiffel Tower stood 1,024 feet tall. It completely crushed the Washington Monument and became the tallest structure on Earth. It kept that record for 41 whole years. But Finn, there is a crazy twist to this story. The Eiffel Tower wasn't meant to be permanent. Gustave Eiffel only had a permit for it to stand for 20 years. In 1909, the city of Paris was supposed to tear it down and sell it for scrap metal. Tear it down?

SPEAKER_01 7:32

After two and a half million rivets? No way.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

How did it survive? Eiffel was smart. He started letting scientists use the top of the tower for experiments. The thing that finally saved it was a giant radio antenna. The military realised that a thousand-foot tower was the perfect place to send and receive wireless telegraph messages. So it became a giant radio dish.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

That is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Exactly! During World War I, they even used it to intercept secret enemy messages. After that, the city decided it was way too important to destroy. Now it is time for some weird facts. Hit me with them! Did you know the Eiffel Tower actually shrinks and grows? Because it is made of iron, the summer sun heats the metal and makes it expand. The tower can grow up to six inches taller in the summer. It is a growing metal monster! Also, to keep it from rusting, it gets painted completely by hand every seven years. It takes 60 tons of paint to cover it. That is the weight of ten elephants in paint.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Ugh, imagine being the guy who has to paint all 18,000 pieces.

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And remember those angry writers who hated it? One famous writer named Guy de Maupasson hated it so much he ate lunch at the Tower's restaurant every single day. Why? Because it was the only place in Paris where he couldn't see the tower.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

That is incredibly petty, but so funny.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

Alright, Finn, it is time for the quiz. Let's see how much you remember about the giant metal monster.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Okay, I am ready. Lay it on me.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

First question. What year was the Eiffel Tower officially finished and opened? Next one. Exactly how many individual iron pieces were put together to build it? Question three. How many glowing red hot rivets were used to hold all those pieces together? Here's number four. What invention save the tower from being torn down in 1909? Last question. Why did the grumpy writer Guy de Maupassant eat lunch at the tower every single day? Great job! Let's see how you did and go through the answers. The first answer is, it was finished in 1889 for the World's Fair. For question 2, there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron. Number three, the answer is they used 2.5 million rivets. Question 4. It was saved because they put military radio and telegraph antennas on top. And the final answer is because the tower's restaurant was the only place in Paris where he couldn't see the tower.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

I still cannot believe they almost tore down the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal. Imagine Paris without it.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

I know. It just proves that sometimes the things people hate at first turn out to be the most amazing masterpieces in history.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Speaking of things we hope you don't want to tear down, if you love this podcast, please leave us a five-star review. Just scroll down on your app and tap those five stars. It really helps us out.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Yes, and don't forget to check out our site kidopoly.com. We have tons of amazing learning games and fun activities waiting for you over there.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Also, if you want a shout out on the show, or just want to tell us your favourite weird historical fact, send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Thanks for climbing 1700 steps with us today. See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye everyone.