The Eiffel Tower: Europe's Greatest Landmark

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This video is #sponsored by Curiosity Stream.
Source/Further reading:
Official website, history: www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-m...
Reprinted 1986 magazine article on the tower, lots of good backstory! www.arthurchandler.com/paris-1...
History, overview of the tower: www.history.com/topics/landma...
The Tower and science: www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-m...
Eiffel Tower, giant radio transmitter: www.toureiffel.paris/en/news/...
Gustave Eiffel biography: www.biography.com/scientist/g...
Different bio on same: www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-m...
France Today, Eiffel and the Fair: www.francetoday.com/learn/boo...
Nat Geo, photos of - and trivia on - the tower: www.nationalgeographic.com/ph...
Hitler’s order to destroy Paris: www.historynet.com/the-nazi-w...
1912 footage of attempted parachute jump: • Death Jump off the Eif...  
Original NYT article on tower’s completion: timesmachine.nytimes.com/time...

[@geographicstravel]

Thanks to CuriosityStream for sponsoring today’s video. Go to curiositystream.thld.co/geographicsjune and use code GEOGRAPHICS to save 25% off today, that’s only $14.99 a year.

[@--enyo--]

I know it would be quite a dark part of history, but could you feature Tulsa, Oklahoma for a future Geographics episode? I think it’s something important to know about.

[@Rollstuhlwal]

i really would love to buy a subscription but unfortunatly they only accept Credit Card and i don't have/want one. to bad for Folks outside the US

[@DemonKiller32]

stop

[@andrewlegrand4416]

​@@Rollstuhlwalit ok okl

[@martinshowers6904]

"The only place in town I can have lunch, and not look at the damn Eiffel Tower"

[@BMW7series251]

Ha, lol.

[@deemariedubois4916]

@Martin Showers A truly great line.

[@johannweber5185]

In my opinion, one of the most fascinating facts about the building process of the Eiffel tower ist that it was so well organized and the workers so skilled that not a single person was killed during the construction process (One was killed during a private visit in his free time).

[@mammuchan8923]

I can’t stop trying to picture what 19th century French suppositories looked like they sound vicious

[@medusagorgo5146]

I was lucky enough to have been able to go there and climb up the tower a few years ago when I lived in Germany. We were coming back from touring the Normandy beaches and Mont st Michele when we stopped off in Paris for a few days. If you ever get a chance to visit here’s a hint, visit early in the day, like when they first open, it’s less crowded and you pretty much have free reign of the place.

[@davekirk100]

Another tip: Climb to the first level, it's not that far and you bypass the ridiculous queues for the lifts from the bottom

[@sailinbob11]

I'll be having wine with my crepes ,or hung over. I built skyscrapers. I'm familiar.

[@Chef_PC]

I love the not-so-silent quotes around “Francophiles”. Subtle move, Blaze Boi.

[@leighpowell1062]

ALLEGENDLY

[@samtepal3892]

🎶 And they say I'm a Francophile, at least they know I know where France is 🎶

[@klm9440]

Wtf is a Francophile and why are they attracted to france

[@deemariedubois4916]

@@klm9440 A person who is fond of or greatly admires France or the French; the French language, French history, French culture or French people.Thomas Jefferson was a Francophile. Blaze on and on and on...

[@michaelc3977]

After the behaviour of the french during WW2, it’s a wonder Francophile is even a term.

[@sparkyfromel]

Eiffel was a fanatic about good engineering , he thought work accidents were the proof of sloppy management the Eiffel tower was build without one casualty , an unique feat at the time there was however a murder of passion , this is France after all !

[@TheStefaniliev]

I think "the making of the Eiffel Tower" will be pretty nice MegaProject video

[@ComaDave]

"...who will cheat on me as little as possible" "So you're telling me there's a chance"

[@MartinCHorowitz]

The Eiffel Tower proved the techniques for modern large building construction.

[@Daniel-kq4bx]

I was wondering how you could make a 23 Minutes video about the Eiffel Tower. I was proven so wrong, this was so amusing and informative, loved it.

[@Taylor-nc1qt]

I thought Europe’s greatest landmark was Simon’s beard

[@Wkgs-wp6sc]

It is in my opinion

[@deemariedubois4916]

@Taylor A great landmark and hot AF.

[@TexAnts-xp7tl]

Being a native Texan, I love everything French! Not only did they back my state's eventual countrymen in the American Revolution but they were one of only a few countries to recognize Texas's independence from Mexico. My birthplace, San Antonio, basically only exists because the French trading post New Orleans. Vive la France!

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

I like the giant guillotine better. That could have been featured in the ending of a few King Kong and Godzilla movies.

[@Shalashaska13]

What would have been better is if they had made it a fully functional one to carry out exectutions with

[@briandufty5081]

A big shit bucket.. I spit of the tower.. I also asked.

[@gruntsffs1]

Simon, did you forget to tell us how “staggeringly rich” Effel became from his tower contract 🤔

[@gregedwards1087]

I thought "staggeringly rich" was description enough. 😂😂😂

[@gregedwards1087]

Although after 8 JD's and coke (no ice) anything is possible. A happy and safe Christmas to all.

[@gregedwards1087]

All hail Emperor Simon.

[@ARIXANDRE]

Whereas the Christ Redeemer is actually smaller than it looks, I was shocked at how tall the Eiffel Tower Tower really is.

[@paularcher4607]

Me too, I'm from San Francisco and the first time I saw the tower, I thought it looked like the GG Bridge standing on end!

[@Byronic19134]

I was thinking this because the Washington monument looks huge in person so i can only imagine how tall the tower looks.

[@daviddonohue7365]

I remember when I first saw it in person, it took my breath away...the first thing I said was pictures don’t do it justice...just beautiful

[@iteerrex8166]

I had always wanted to learn more about the Eiffel tower, but never got around to it. So thanks very much Simon.

[@aricohen283]

Having grown up in the US, I’ve learned more about European history in two weeks on Geographics than I did in high school

[@HarrisonCoe]

The first 6 words of your comment would explain why

[@aricohen283]

@@HarrisonCoe That was the implication 😂

[@HarrisonCoe]

@@aricohen283 I was merely spelling it out for oue less comprehensive friends haha

[@supersportzcom]

"Stay classy, history." 🤣 My sentiments exactly

[@PaulTheFox1988]

At 16:52, that looks ridiculous just how massive the Eiffel tower is, literally everything else looks like blades of grass under a giants foot in comparison. Sure it's nothing compared to what we have today, but when almost everything else is below the height of the first level it really puts into perspective just how mind blowing it must have looked to people back then.

[@neo-didact9285]

Seeing Simon and hearing him talk makes me happy. I also love his humor.

[@iakazul]

Bravo! Excellent work and thank you for sharing.

[@stevenyoutsey8989]

Way more interesting than I thought. Thanks Simon and team!

[@simonbarr9489]

Have been looking forward to this one! Thanks simon!

[@BananaShooter01]

At this point I think about 90 minutes of my day has one of your videos going in the background. Congratulations on all of your success. Thanks for continuing to make stuff we want to learn about.

[@helendoherty2645]

Hi Simon! Thank you for a wonderful documentary.❤❤❤❤

[@j0njn]

Apparently, during the fight to liberate Paris, a local man climbed the tower’s exterior and raised the Tricolour at its top.

[@AngryIrishMan]

Everytime I look up something historical, 80% of the time, Simon has it covered. His reliability of historical story telling is bar none. He is what the history Channel should have been. The pocket professor of the future, of the past.

[@beachboy0505]

An often told story told well. Excellent video thanks 😊

[@Nipplator99999999999]

Actually, my mind went straight to snails.

[@dulio12385]

The tower used to be beautiful; a straight line from Trocadero down the field of Mars all the way to Invalides. Now it surrounded by a glass wall, security check points, a half-finished dirt park and tourist trap shops. How sad.

[@adamlunn3071]

Fun fact: the Eiffel Tower is positioned so that on Bastille Day a beam of reflected sunlight shines from a disc at the very top of the tower directly onto the remaining stones of the Bastille situated on Boulevarde Henri IV. Despite the significant distance from the tower to the former location of the Bastille, the effect is discernible even on cloudy Bastille Days.

[@chriscostello117]

Thanks man. Great work.

[@gregfelix6979]

Great video! How about the Sydney Opera House? Great story there…

[@punchtravelchannel]

Thanks for this informative video. I visited the Eiffel Tower for the first time last week. It's truly breathtaking. I could not get enough of looking at it, while I was in Paris.

[@oopsibrokethecow]

This is a great documentary. I guess I never really thought about Paris before the Eiffel was there, or what really went into constructing it. Before it was built, was that just open land, or were there other buildings there that had to be demolished?

[@ethanward3470]

The chappelle clip killed me 😂

[@stephjovi]

I've only been to Paris once, in 2005. Back than I was assured that Parisians still think the only good thing about the tower is that if you're up there you don't have to see it. It's just a big piece of metal with too many tourists

[@benjaminb3367]

Very informative

[@honeysucklecat]

Wish you had included more photos of it under construction and when it was new. Otherwise awesome!

[@ravellxivrobinson4979]

Simon is superbly consistent... Flawless Victory

[@ryanmclellan8740]

My damn that beard grows more glorious every video.

[@ethangetchell5550]

This is by far the best geographics I've seen

[@thecellulontriptometer4166]

When I think of Paris I think of the quaint architecture and sites of Montmartre. That to me is the place to hang out in Paris.

[@douglasscott464]

Fantastic video.

[@nothingtoseaheardammit]

I got stranded at the top of the tower when I was a teenager. Took the elevator up - only to find that there was a certain time in the evening that it just stopped working - whether there were still people up there or not. So we (a group of unruly teens) took the stairs down - usually sliding down the hand rails.

[@markhoffman6488]

Any thoughts on doing a video about the Washington Monument, perhaps on Megaprojects or Sideprojects?

[@gordonrick2894]

I proposed to my wife at the top of this tower...Pro tip, if you can manage to accomplish a proposal like that, do it. Your wife will thank you for decades and every other guy in your social circle will likely hold you in high regard. (or extreme jealousy)

[@BMW7series251]

Brilliant , thanks.

[@ilzarion]

Did you do one on the empire state building yet?

[@ninjastyle46]

I love the videos, but man are your music intervals louder than a banshee. I try to watch these as I sleep, no bueno lol

[@jupitersailing]

In 2004 I was wandering around under the tower when I saw a thing like a bolt on the ground. It had many layers of brown paint and was a rivet about the size of an ocean liner rivet. I have it still, and it must have been one of the originals from 1887-9. It is very heavy and if it fell on your head from the tower it would doubtlessly kill you.

[@enwilkes7]

A little bummed that you didn't have time to share the story about the random guy who claimed he own the Eiffel Tower and "sold" it twice for scrap metal.

[@SkagulTV]

Theres a biographics video of the man himself, so theirs no need, though a link to it would be nice I suppose

[@rwfan2u]

Simon's my favourite KZbin host!

[@lifeform106]

first geographic I watched in summer 2021 and discovered biographic in early 2021(March 2021 with Charles Cornwallis coming regular and Grant ) with Elon Musk in the fall of 2020 early stages. I remember being shocked by finding there is a sister channel and learned so much in a year :) Also glad on birthday 2021 Roosevelt I got to get into presidents and lots of great discoveries thanks to these channels :D

[@sonicgoo1121]

He was also a pioneer of aerodynamics. A real smart Alec!

[@131457c]

The best thing that XIX century France gave us is still Absinthe!!!

[@stephenlane9168]

Simon can you cover the Blackpool Tower in a video - the why? How? Etc

[@abbofun9022]

Why spend time and resources on that cheap and small knockoff?

[@davefillion3493]

Imagine telling Hitler to stuff it and refuse to destroy the tower. I wonder what happened to that guy when Hitler found out?

[@nickgov66]

Hitler was hiding in his bunker by then and had other things to think about.

[@tudorbaltoiu7685]

What's ironic is that just today I have said to myself "When will Simon make a video about the Eiffel Tower?"

[@robiking011]

Is it true that the Eiffel Tower can be seen out of every window in Paris? At least according to every movie I've seen that takes place in Paris.

[@phtuber5469]

Well it is the symbol of Paris so naturally you would see it in every movie that's set in Paris. In fact I've never seen a movie set in Paris that didn't feature the tower, does a movie like that even exist ?

[@robiking011]

​@@phtuber5469 I think you misread my comment. I was asking ''is it true that the Eiffel tower can be seen out of every window in paris?'' You know how in movies that take place in Paris the Eiffel Tower can be seen outside a window? No matter what part of the house the window is. No matter where in Paris the house or the building is. The Eiffel Tower can always be seen perfectly outside a window.

[@phtuber5469]

@@robiking011 I didn't misread, I know what you meant. I was saying that they always put it like that in every movie that is set in Paris because it is the symbol of the city. So yes it probably can't be seen from every window but they always show it like that because it's the simplest way to do it.

[@kathischenk8195]

Hope I will get to add to the numbers and see it!

[@JulianShagworthy]

6:03 That's an absolutely reasonable request.

[@blueberrypirate3601]

Simon should be on Mt Rushmore beard and all alongside Indy Neidell and Doug Walker 😃

[@DanielGonzalez-cs8pr]

I still think of it as the world's largest eyesore, jutting up out of the spectacular Paris skyline like a middle finger!

[@nevize6660]

What do you think about the statue of liberty?

[@jordenpenitch1532]

What do you think about communism

[@vampireabby]

Can you make a Tulsa massacre video I'm from Oklahoma and had a whole school year on Oklahoma history and had nothing on it! I had to find out on HBO. So please, I love your content.

[@bluegreenglue6565]

I just appreciate the tower as a landmark that has nothing whatsoever to do with the catholic church!

[@AllDayBikes]

Two of these videos started playing at almost the same time, and it sounded like Simon was coming out of a massive communist speaker system, nice.

[@sethmaki1333]

Thank you Simon for introducing the world to the phrase "giant stone hemorrhoid."

[@emersonroqica6524]

Is there a podcast for this channel?

[@loddude5706]

Being iron, is it it's own lightning conductor, or are they actually fitted & earthed to prevent structural damage?

[@nickgov66]

Or even "lightning", perchance?

[@angeliarossett5934]

Legendary 💜

[@stevenwilson2225]

I think you could do Buckingham Palace justice. Also explain how Dukedoms work. Are they like states or counties???

[@CuteFuzzyWeasel]

whats with that X? trial plugin?

[@GoodVideos4]

The origin is much like that of the Space Needle in Seattle.

[@johnsuffill6520]

In 1925 Andre Citroen (founder of the car company) rented the Eiffel Tower and emblazoned the company name on its 4 sides using 250,000 lights. They remained there until 1934 when the company went bankrupt, with Michelin saving the company (urged on by the government) the following month.

[@eaphantom9214]

I have been on that thing, it was truly a wonder to behold and its a lot bigger than you think it is from looking online. standing underneath it - I would visually say it was 2-3 football pitches wide across? Here summit for your joy - paris's tourist authority very graciously installed a toilette at the very top in case er... Heights may get you haha 😅 oh and even a cafe

[@anguskeenan4932]

Swear when ever Simon says “Eiffel” I hear him saying “he fell” and I keep thinking, “Jesus what a twist!”

[@phtuber5469]

Maybe that's why it's shaped like a giant letter A, because that's the sound he made when he fell. 🤣

[@imperialguard28]

Gonna share this video on my Mimes Facebook page

[@paramshah25]

Just went through this while having a picnic under the tower..

[@imperialguard28]

23:00 "Dietrich von Chocolates"?🙃🍫

[@groovejet77]

Thank you

[@kdrapertrucker]

Interesting place to put an oil well.

[@onbedoeldekut1515]

I thought of the war on Troy. Even after clicking on a video about Le Tour Eiffel.

[@StorytimeIST]

Love the fact that Simon opens the video with a crime... ain't it illegal to show pictures of the tower at night? Simon you badass you😎

[@badman9682]

0:35 I caught you red handed! How dare take night pictures of the tower

[@abbofun9022]

Is that still copyright protected? Thought that that ban was lifted some years ago?

[@tobasilinia]

the main part of all the steel used was made in Galati , Romania ! You should've known and said that !

[@dr.python]

This should have been in the MegaProjects channel

[@WilliRacing]

To stay in the same time and place in history,what about a Biographics about Jean-Joseph Etienne Lenoir, the true father of internal combustion engines and the "automobile"

[@carschmn]

Parisians had an interesting idea of suppository. The Eiffel Tower seems a bit pointy.

[@Dahdoi]

Song at 20:12?

[@brianmayer2153]

Can you do a video on Norte Dame???

[@lividsama]

Was certain Eiffel Tower would be in in Megaproject. Guess I was wrong.

[@RyanMiller-ej8ri]

An “Iron Spike”...well thats one way to put it hahaha

[@leighpowell1062]

The Eifel tower could be seen as a tragic waste of macharno

[@handlesarefeckinstupid]

You mean Meccano?

[@leighpowell1062]

Yes

[@AllDayBikes]

Surprised this isn't a MegaProjects

[@darrenmclellan6712]

don't think that's what Lois Sullivan meant when he stated "Form follows function", It was meant to state that a design has to work first. It has to meet the functional needs of the client before decoration is added. Just look at Sullivan's work and you will find all sorts of decoration. Sometimes it is over the top. Certainly not driven by the function.

[@jamesclendon4811]

That Lois was a pistol, wasn't she.

[@amochswohntet99]

I'm glad they've learned to enjoy it

[@crankreid]

450 workers for such an old project, this sounds super low compared to other projects to me amazing how tech and conditions change from job to job.