Where Is the Eiffel Tower? (9780451533852)

by Anastasio, Dina; Foley, Tim (ILT)

  Then Gustave had a brainstorm. Wasn’t the French military doing wireless experiments? Didn’t it need a better way to transmit and receive messages?

  Gustave went to the military. Okay, the officials said. They’d agree to try using the tower for some of their experiments. The military installed better and higher antennas. It worked. They could send clearer messages and orders to more distant soldiers and sailors.

  The military was convinced. Now Gustave had to convince the Paris officials. It took time, but eventually, on January 1, 1910, an agreement to save the Eiffel Tower was signed.

  Over the years, new ways to use radio waves were discovered. More advanced wireless devices were invented. By 1920, a machine called the radio could broadcast programs that people listened to from far away. In the mid-twentieth century, television began broadcasting programs that people could see as well as hear. The tower was becoming more and more important. Higher antennas were added to help send and receive signals.

  Today, 120 antennas at the top of the Eiffel Tower help send messages to the farthest points of the globe.

  Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937)

  Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy, on April 25, 1874. When he was a boy, he was fascinated by science. As he grew older, he became interested in the way people sent and received messages and signals over long distances. At the time, information was transmitted over wires and cables.

  Marconi had a better idea. Maybe it was possible to send signals through the air using electromagnetic radiation. He created equipment that produced radio waves. Then he conducted experiments. Before long, he was able to send signals, first one mile, then twelve miles.

  Marconi wondered how far his signals could go. Could a wireless signal be sent from England to Newfoundland, Canada? It was 2,100 miles, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Many people thought it was impossible. But Marconi decided to try.

  On December 12, 1901, he succeeded. No wires or cables were used. Wireless was born.

  In September 1914, Europe was fighting World War I. German troops had taken over Belgium. They were fighting to capture France. As the Germans moved closer to Paris, French soldiers fought one of the most important battles of the war. It took place at the Marne River, thirty miles from Paris.

  The tower was closed to the public during the war, but the antennas continued to be used. As the battle raged on, messages to French troops were being transmitted from the top of the tower. Also, the tower’s transmitters were able to pick up German messages. This helped the French soldiers know what the enemy was up to. The Battle of the Marne lasted about a week. When it was over, the Germans retreated. Paris was safe. In 1918, Germany surrendered, ending World War I.

  A little more than twenty years later, Germany again went to war against many countries in Europe, including France. In 1940, German Nazi soldiers moved into the center of Paris to occupy the city. It was a terrible time for France.

  At the Eiffel Tower, a French fireman was forced to take down the national flag of France. The Nazis then raised their own flag.

  However, by 1944, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, could see that Germany was losing the war. So he called in General Dietrich von Choltitz. He was the German commander and governor of occupied Paris. Hitler gave him an order: Before Paris was free again, von Choltitz must reduce the city to rubble. No famous building or monument could be left standing. Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and other beloved Parisian landmarks must be blown up. Under no circumstances should von Choltitz leave Paris without destroying it.

  Notre-Dame Cathedral

  The battle to free Paris from the Germans began in August 1944. The Allied troops (Americans and British) were moving closer and closer to Paris. Soon they would arrive and liberate the city. Hitler ordered that explosives be put in place around Paris—on bridges, buildings, and monuments. Von Choltitz followed these orders. But he did not obey Hitler’s final command. He never pushed the buttons that would have fired the explosives.

  On August 24, French and American troops moved into Paris. Parisians took up guns and rushed into the streets to help win back their city. The Germans surrendered on August 25, 1944.

  Von Choltitz had plenty of time and opportunity to destroy Paris. Why, instead, did he save the city? His reasons are still unclear.

  There are many different theories. Von Choltitz himself stated, “If for the first time I had disobeyed, it was because I knew that Hitler was insane.” His son maintained his father understood there was no reason to take down the buildings and chose to save the city.

  French people found that impossible to believe. Von Choltitz had killed many Parisians; he had no love for their city. So perhaps somewhere in Paris, a Parisian stopped von Choltitz from that horrible act.

  With Paris now freed, the moment had come to pull down the hated Nazi flag from the Eiffel Tower. The same man who had removed the French flag in 1940 was chosen to put up the tricolore of blue, white, and red. But all French flags had been destroyed by the Nazis during the war. So he ended up making a three-color flag out of sheets, then climbed to the top of the tower and raised the giant banner.

  The Eiffel Tower stood proud once more, truly a symbol of France’s liberty.

  CHAPTER 8

  Can You Imagine?

  Ever since the tower opened, people have looked up and thought about possibilities. Some were silly. Some were profound.

  How fast can I run to the top? Is it possible to ride down on a bicycle? How would it feel to parachute off something so high? Can I make it all the way up the iron girders? Should I climb this way? That way? How would it feel to fly around or under it? And most important: If Gustave Eiffel could create something like this, then what can I do?

  Sylvain Dornon, a French baker, climbed his way to fame. On September 9, 1891, he worked his way up 347 steps to the tower’s first level on stilts.

  In 1901, a man named Alberto Santos-Dumont decided to become the first person to fly all the way around the tower. Planes had not yet been invented. It would be two years before Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first powered flight. Santos-Dumont flew in a hot-air balloon and won a prize of one hundred thousand French francs from a rich businessman.

  As time passed, the stunts grew more dangerous. Too many failed, so laws were made. No jumping allowed! No flying near the tower! No climbing the metal pieces!

  Did that stop the daredevils?

  No!

  In 1912, a tailor designed and created a thick parachute suit that he hoped would save pilots if they fell or jumped from planes. He climbed the tower and jumped. It didn’t work, and he died.

  In 1923, a Paris journalist rode his bike down the tower staircase. He survived and was arrested at the bottom.

  As aviation advanced, several pilots flew small planes between the tower’s legs.

  In 1987, a man from New Zealand bungee-jumped from the second floor.

  But perhaps the most famous daredevil of all was Philippe Petit, a world-class tightrope walker. On August 26, 1989, Petit stretched a 2,300-foot cable from the right bank of the Seine River to the second level of the Eiffel Tower on the left bank.

  Philippe had been invited to perform his act by French president Jacques Chirac to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the French Republic. As thousands of spectators on both sides of the river watched, he walked up the cable. He was dressed in a red, green, and yellow skintight suit. He carried a long pole to balance himself. At the end of his walk, as he stepped onto the tower, he was greeted by President Chirac.

  Philippe Petit (1949–)

  Philippe Petit was born in France on August 13, 1949. Growing up, he loved climbing. When he was sixteen, he rigged up a rope between two trees and taught himself to walk across it. He practiced. Then he practiced some more. He studied weather, wind, distance, measurements, r
igging, and timing.

  At 7:00 a.m. on August 7, 1974, Philippe walked a wire between the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City. He was 1,368 feet—one-quarter of a mile—above the sidewalks below. Without a net.

  This was the walk that made him world famous. He was twenty-four years old. Every detail had been considered. He had studied the architecture and the way the wind swayed the towers. He had taken photographs and made drawings. Using a bow and arrow, he had worked out a way to rig the cable from tower to tower, a 138-foot space.

  Petit kneeled, danced, lay on the wire, and walked back and forth eight times for forty-five minutes. He was arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct. Many people who had seen his act protested his arrest. He was released on the condition that he entertain children in New York City’s Central Park.

  Since then, Philippe Petit has performed all over the world, at churches, circuses, operas, museums, railway stations, and the Eiffel Tower.

  CHAPTER 9

  The Tower Today

  Gustave Eiffel’s tower still stands proudly beside the Seine River. His dream to create a structure that would remain forever has come true. It is considered one of the most important landmarks in Paris and one of the world’s greatest buildings.

  Gustave died at his home in Paris on December 27, 1923. He was listening to a recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. He was ninety-one years old. Much of his long life was spent in his tower. He conducted experiments with metal, wind, flight, weather, and radio waves, and he checked to make sure that all was well with his most beloved building.

  The Eiffel Tower is no longer the tallest structure in the world. In 1930, the Chrysler Building in New York City took over that record. Even taller buildings followed. But few structures can match Gustave Eiffel’s wrought-iron masterpiece for creativity.

  The Chrysler Building

  Night after night, the “Iron Lady,” as the tower is often called, continues to shine in Paris. Almost seven million people visit each year, more than any other monument in the world. Three out of four come from countries other than France. Some climb the steps all the way to the top. Others ride the glass elevators. A few call the tower ugly, but most disagree. They use words like original, unusual, brilliant, elegant, a dancing wonder, a magical masterpiece.

  The Eiffel Tower is not exactly the same as it was in 1889. The elevators are faster and more efficient. There are more shops and restaurants. The tower is no longer red. Painters use a bronze color now.

  By 1981, the tower was in need of a major reconstruction. It was almost one hundred years old. Newer and heavier equipment, restaurants, shops, and antennas had been added over the years. The excess weight was causing problems.

  The tower was made one hundred tons lighter. Many of the earlier, heavy ornaments and decorations were removed. New, lighter materials were used.

  Elevators and staircases were updated. Security measures were installed.

  In 2014, a new, lighter, illuminated glass first floor was added. It is a big hit with visitors.

  Gustave Eiffel’s original office has been restored. Visitors can see wax models of Gustave and Thomas Edison along with the phonograph that Edison brought as a gift.

  Visitors can choose between fine dining restaurants, bars, or buffets serving snacks and sandwiches. They can buy postcards and other souvenirs in the shops. In winter, visitors can even skate on a temporary rink.

  What makes the Eiffel Tower so exciting has not changed. From the top, people still look down in wonder on the beautiful city of Paris.

  The lit-up tower can still be seen from all over the city. In 1889, hundreds of gas lamps made it shine. Today, twenty thousand lightbulbs twinkle for five minutes every hour on the hour each night.

  On special occasions, lights are coordinated with music, and the tower seems to be dancing.

  At times, the whole tower shines blue, white, and red: the colors of the French flag.

  It has been almost 130 years since Gustave first attached a French flag to the top of his newly opened creation. It was supposed to be torn down twenty years later. But it is still there today, standing tall, welcoming visitors from all over the world.

  Four Towers

  The Leaning Tower of Pisa

  The Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Pisa, Italy, is the most famous tilting tower in the world. Construction began in 1173. Almost immediately, it began to tilt. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, the damp soil on one side was not reinforced. By 1990, it was tilting at a five-and-a-half-degree angle. Cables were attached and the ground was reinforced. The tower now leans at an angle of about four degrees.

  The Space Needle

  The 605-foot-tall Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington. Built for the 1962 World’s Fair, it was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

  The Shanghai Tower

  Completed in 2015, this 2,073-foot skyscraper in Shanghai, China, is the tallest building in China, and the second tallest in the world. Its spiraling, twisting curves are better able to withstand strong winds.

  The Burj Khalifa

  The Burj Khalifa is a 2,722-foot skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Completed in 2009, it is currently the tallest structure in the world.

  Timeline of the Eiffel Tower

  1832 —Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel born in Dijon, France

  1884 —Eiffel completes internal skeleton for the Statue of Liberty

  1886 —Contest announced to create tower entrance to 1889 Exposition Universelle

  1887 —Eiffel wins contest and construction of tower begins

  1889 —Exposition Universelle in Paris opens; Eiffel Tower opens to the public

  1898 —First radio transmission is sent from the tower

  1905 —First stair-climbing contest is held on the tower

  1908 —French military uses the tower to send and receive radio messages

  1910 —Paris officials sign contract allowing the tower to remain permanently

  1915-1918 —Tower closed during World War I

  1921 —First live radio program broadcast from the tower

  1923 —Eiffel dies

  1936 —Television antenna installed on top of tower

  1940-1945 —Tower closed for World War II

  1952 —First television program broadcast from the tower

  1981-1982 —Renovations made to the tower

  1989 —Philippe Petit walks on a wire across the Seine to second level of tower

  2014 —Transparent first floor added to the tower

  Timeline of the World

  1826 — First photograph taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce

  1837 — Victoria becomes queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

  1861 — American Civil War begins

  1866 — Alfred Nobel invents dynamite

  1873 — Jules Verne publishes Around the World in Eighty Days

  1879 — Thomas Alva Edison invents practical electric light

  1896 — First modern Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece

  1898 — Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium and polonium

  1903 — Henry Ford organizes the Ford Motor Company

  1909 — American explorers Peary and Henson reach the North Pole

  1912 — Ocean liner Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks

  1928 — Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

  1931 — Empire State Building completed in New York City

  1933 — Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany

  1954 — First atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched

  1959 — Fidel Castro takes over Cuba

  1974 — US president Richard Nixon resigns

  2009 — Burj Kha
lifa in Dubai becomes the tallest structure in the world

  Bibliography

  *Books for young readers

  *Blumenson, Martin. Liberation. Alexandria, VA: Time Life Books, 1978.

  Collins, Larry, and Dominique Lapierre. Is Paris Burning? New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1994.

  *Frith, Margaret. Who Was Thomas Alva Edison? New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2005.

  *Goldsmith, Mike. Guglielmo Marconi (Scientists Who Made History). London: Hodder Children’s Books, 2003.

  Harvey, David I. Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton, 2004.

  *Holub, Joan. What Is the Statue of Liberty? New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2014.

  Jonnes, Jill. Eiffel’s Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris’s Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World’s Fair That Introduced It. New York: Penguin Books, 2010.

  Lichtenstein, Grace. “Stuntman, Eluding Guards, Walks a Tightrope Between Trade Center Towers.” New York Times, August 8, 1974.

  Petit, Philippe. “Philippe Petit walks a tightrope between Manhattan’s Twin Towers, 7 August 1974.” Guardian. November 20, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/nov/20/philippe-petit-twin-towers-tightrope.

  “Reports of the United States Commissioners to the Universal Exposition of 1889 at Paris,” U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891. https://archive.org/details/cu31924107177093.

  Rosbottom, Ronald C. When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2014.