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KF5JRV > TODAY 31.03.19 15:17l 54 Lines 2778 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 33668_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - March 31
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<VE2PKT<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190331/1315Z 33668@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony
presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, and attended by
French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries, and
200 construction workers.
In 1889, to honor of the centenary of the French Revolution, the French
government planned an international exposition and announced a design
competition for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars in central
Paris. Out of more than 100 designs submitted, the Centennial Committee
chose Eiffel’s plan of an open-lattice wrought-iron tower that would
reach almost 1,000 feet above Paris and be the world’s tallest man-made
structure. Eiffel, a noted bridge builder, was a master of metal
construction and designed the framework of the Statue of Liberty that
had recently been erected in New York Harbor.
Eiffel’s tower was greeted with skepticism from critics who argued that
it would be structurally unsound, and indignation from others who
thought it would be an eyesore in the heart of Paris. Unperturbed,
Eiffel completed his great tower under budget in just two years. Only
one worker lost his life during construction, which at the time was a
remarkably low casualty number for a project of that magnitude. The
light, airy structure was by all accounts a technological wonder and
within a few decades came to be regarded as an architectural
masterpiece.
The Eiffel Tower is 984 feet tall and consists of an iron framework
supported on four masonry piers, from which rise four columns that unite
to form a single vertical tower. Platforms, each with an observation
deck, are at three levels. Elevators ascend the piers on a curve, and
Eiffel contracted the Otis Elevator Company of the United States to
design the tower’s famous glass-cage elevators.
The elevators were not completed by March 31, 1889, however, so Gustave
Eiffel ascended the tower’s stairs with a few hardy companions and
raised an enormous French tricolor on the structure’s flagpole.
Fireworks were then set off from the second platform. Eiffel and his
party descended, and the architect addressed the guests and about 200
workers. In early May, the Paris International Exposition opened, and
the tower served as the entrance gateway to the giant fair.
The Eiffel Tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure until
the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly,
the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International
Exposition’s 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as
an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged
today and is one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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