Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

© Susanne Kremer/eStock Phot

Celebrate another year with the Iron Lady. Happy Birthday, Eiffel Tower

Locally, it's called 'La dame de fer,' which translates to English as 'The Iron Lady.' To the rest of the world, it's the Eiffel Tower, a landmark nearly synonymous with all things Parisian. It's one of the most recognizable structures in the world and the most visited monument with an entrance fee. The Eiffel Tower took 500 workers two years, two months, and five days to complete. Most of the structural work was finished by the end of March 1889 and to celebrate, the builders led a group of government officials and journalists to the top of the tower on March 31. It was, at the time, the highest man-made structure in the world. With the addition of a new radio antenna on March 15, 2022, the Eiffel Tower grew an additional 20 feet and is now 1,083 feet tall, just in time for its 133rd birthday.

Warm weather in summer causes the iron in the structure to expand, so the Eiffel Tower actually grows by up to around 7 inches. On a particularly windy day, if you look closely, maybe you'll notice the natural swaying movement of the tower near the top. That wind gets collected by turbines on the second level, which convert it into electricity for the tower's shops and restaurants. There's also a rainwater collection system that's used for the toilet tanks. The Eiffel Tower gets a fresh paint job roughly every seven years. Originally it was dark red, then yellow, but has been 'Eiffel Tower Brown' for the past 54 years. It takes around 16,000 gallons of paint to get the job done.