Story Highlights
- Historical event
- 31 March 1889
- The tower was supposed to stand for 20 years and was to be dismantled by the year 1909. However, it was eventually decided that it was to remain standing.
The Eiffel Tower was formally inaugurated on this year. It was chosen to build the Tower in 1889 because it was the centennial of the French Revolution.
The tower is made from 18,038 pieces of iron joined together by two and a half million rivets. One man was killed during construction process.
Many famous Parisians criticized the tower as a mockery of the city, including for example Alexandre Dumas.
Guy de Maupassant claimed that he hated the Eiffel Tower. However, it is interesting that he supposedly ate lunch there every day.
When asked why, he said it was because it was the only place in the city from which the tower is not visible. The tower was supposed to stand for 20 years and was to be dismantled by the year 1909.
But, it was eventually decided that it was to remain standing. Today, the Eiffel Tower is the most-visited monument in the world that one must pay to enter.
