Why was the Eiffel tower built?

The Eiffel Tower is a huge tower in Paris, France.  It was built for the Paris Universal Exhibition (a world’s fair), held in that city in 1889.

The tower, named for its designer, Alexander Eiffel, was intended to be the symbol and main attraction of the fair, just as most world’s fairs have one structure to symbolize the particular fair.

When the fair ended, the tower was left standing.  Today it is the most famous landmark of the French capital.

The tower rises 984 feet in the air and contains 7,000 tons of iron and steel.  At the time it was built, it was taller than anything else anyone had ever built.  Now the Empire State Building is nearly 300 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower.

If you take an elevator to the top, you can see all over Paris.  You will also find a restaurant in the tower, as well as a weather station.  There is a tall TV antenna on top that sends programs al over the city. – Dick Rogers

Why does the leaning Tower of Pisa lean?

The tower leans because it is slowly sinking in the soft ground.  The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a famous bell tower at Pisa, Italy.  The tower tips so far to one side that it looks as though it would fall over.  But it has been leaning for over 600 years!

Tower of Pisa

Why does it lean?  Of course, it wasn’t supposed to lean when it was built.  Yet it began to lean long before it was finished.

Builders began to work on the tower in 1174.  The stone foundation was not built on time enough ground to support the heavy marble tower and it began to sink unevenly into the soft soil.

But the builders went on adding story after story until the tower was 180 feet tall.  Since it was finished it has leaned a little more as the years went by.

Even today little by little the tower continues to tilt more each year.  It is now leans over 17 feet to one side.  Some people estimated that the tower will topple over within the next 100 years. – Dick Rogers