Did you know the Eiffel Tower actually changes size with the weather? Or that Hitler was famously snubbed during his Paris occupation? Discover these and more intriguing insights about one of the world's most beloved landmarks.
The official height is 324 meters, but thermal expansion causes it to grow up to 20 cm on hot days and shrink by 10 cm in the cold—a fascinating engineering quirk.
Constructed starting in 1887 and opened in 1889, the tower was meant to be dismantled by 1910. Gustave Eiffel intervened by converting it into the world's largest radio antenna, which intercepted German messages during World War I, securing its permanence.
Welcoming 7 million visitors annually—75% from abroad—the Eiffel Tower has hosted over 300 million guests since its 1889 inauguration.
In June 1940, as Hitler toured conquered Paris, he skipped the tower: Parisians had severed the elevator cables, leaving him grounded.
That's roughly equivalent to the 1889 construction cost adjusted for inflation. Modern estimates value it at around 2.8 billion euros today.
