A Brief History of the Eiffel Tower

Li_Yang
A Brief History of the Eiffel Tower
9 min readDec 21, 2020

A Brief History of the Formation of the Eiffel Tower

world history — Eiffel is one of the most famous buildings in Paris, France. Since its construction in 1889, the tower has been visited by at least 200 million people from various parts of the world. In 2006 alone, more than 6 million people were ready to visit the 325 meter high concrete building.

Eiffel has a very long history of development. Various problems have been encountered with the tower which is currently used as a radio transmitter as well as an observer. However, the Eiffel Tower actually turned into a world romantic icon. Many films, fiction and shows full of love take place here. Let’s get to know the Eiffel Tower inside by getting acquainted with its history below.

Ideas and plans for the construction of the Eiffel Tower

We all know Gustav Eiffel to be the man behind this extraordinary tower. Even the name of the tower has taken the name of the designer. Initially Gustav wanted to build only one tower in Barcelona. Unfortunately, the plans he offered were considered very bizarre and the buildings didn’t match up. In addition, this tower is also considered too expensive. However, he did not succeed in building towers in Europe.

The idea of ​​building the Eiffel Tower finally came from two Gustav men named Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier. He wasn’t interested at first. But when he saw that the plan was going smoothly, Gustavo took command. He also bought a patent for this tower until now it is known as the Eiffel Tower which is very magnificent and known to many people.

Mission to build the Eiffel Tower

The tower was originally built for the world fair. The client wanted to make this tower a sign of the centenary of the French Revolution. This tower is a symbol of French strength, extraordinary. In the midst of European suffering in the 18th century, they were able to fight and carry out a great revolution. Also affects many countries in the world.

Gustav Eiffel said that the tower is also a symbol of modern science. Symbol of the evolution of world science over time. This tower is a sign that science lives with humans. Therefore, there are about 72 names of scientists and engineers in this building, which is very famous in France.

Construction of the structure and shape of the Eiffel Tower

Construction of the Eiffel Tower began in early 1889 and opened to the public on 6 May 1889. About 300 workers were involved in the construction of the tower, which manages the building with a total weight of 10,000 tons. Workers had to struggle to organize 18,038 pieces of wrought iron and some 2.5 million rivets. After months of fighting, the building was finished 300 meters above the ground. Then coupled with the antenna at 324 meters.

The shape of the Eiffel Tower initially received a lot of criticism. Moreover, the structure is arranged in a form that has no artistic value. Even the structure of the bridge resembles a river. Gustav Eiffel said that this shape was made according to mathematical calculations. The wind in the air had been calculated so that the tower did not collapse, even though it was very high.

The opening of the Eiffel Tower and its impact on the population

The Eiffel Tower first opened in May 1889. At that time, the tower was equipped with an elevator that directs visitors from the ground up. It invites many tourists from various regions of France. Some even come from the surrounding countryside to see Paris from fantastic heights. To be at an altitude of 300 meters right now was incredible.

Despite the great attractiveness of some people often protest against the construction of this tower. Many residents are not satisfied with this tower. First, for fear that they might become victims if this building collapsed at some point. Then the second one, because it’s a thorn in the eye. This extraordinary structure blocks many things in the air.

The artists in this city express the same thing. They assume that this tower will only make the objects drawn by them disappear. But over time, the Eiffel Tower became the subject of his paintings. In addition, many tourists come to boost sales of their photos.

The function of the Eiffel Tower in modern times

Although originally only intended to commemorate a century of the French Revolution, the tower has since been rebuilt into one of the most admired towers in the world. Even Eiffel is France itself. Today, the Eiffel Tower is considered the most visited tourist attraction in the world. Within a year, more than 3 million people come here to enjoy the Gustav Eiffel tower.

Today, the Eiffel Tower is used as a radio tower. Many local news stations use this tower to reach all audiences across Paris. In addition, the Eiffel Tower is used for weather observations and flights to France. For certain occasions, such as Christmas, New Year or the Olympics, the tower is decorated with lots of lightsu. At night, this tower will shine beautifully.

The Eiffel Tower is very popular among French people. They think of this tower as a tower of luck. If there was no Eiffel Tower, maybe not many tourists would come to this country.

That is a brief description of the history of the construction of the Eiffel Tower. I hope it will be of use to all of you.

Other historical additions

History of Traffic Light Tickets

Some of the articles that we will present to you this time, can be very helpful if you want to find information related to the History of Traffic Light Tickets And on this occasion we will provide several articles that discuss and review the History of Traffic Light Tickets.

Due to congestion in London
Congestion occurred before the creation of motorized vehicles or what is known as automobile. Precisely in the 1860s, the number of horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians made the streets of London at that time very quickly filled with people. As a result, the road becomes jammed easily. A train manager at the time, John Peake Knight, proposed that the government adapt the methods trains used to control traffic.

At that time, trains used a semaphore system which indicated whether a train was allowed to pass or not. Adapting Knight’s proposal, the semaphore was later used with the words “stop” and “go” during the day and red and green lights at night. Since there is no electricity yet, gas lamps are used to accommodate traffic lights at night. One officer would be asked to stand guard at a location near the marker as an operator, and for the first time in the world, a traffic light on the highway was installed on December 9, 1968, right at the intersection of Bridge Street and Great George Street in London, near the House of Parliament and Westminster Bridge. Unfortunately, only a month of use, one of the traffic light guards experienced an explosion accident from one of the operated gas lamps. As a result, this project was deemed to endanger public safety and was eventually terminated.

Developed in the United States
Four decades after the accident, traffic lights began to trend again, to be precise in the United States when many automobiles started roaming the roads. In the early 1900s, there were lots of traffic light patents being registered with different ideas given by each person.

Then in 1910, Ernest Sirrine introduced the first automatic traffic light. The sign used is an arm that says “stop” to stop and “proceed” to go. However, the mechanism used still does not use electricity. Long story short, traffic lights with electric power that use red and green lights were only discovered in 1912 by Lester Farnsworth Wire, a police officer from Salt Lake City, Utah. This traffic light belonging to Wire is shaped like a birdhouse with a high mast. The lamp is placed in the center of the intersection and is powered by electricity from the cable above.

Even so, the predicate for the first traffic light pinned by James Hoge, who was installed for the first time on August 5, 1914. The traffic sign uses the words “stop” and “move” which can be turned on. This traffic light then continues to grow. There is William Ghglieri from San Francisco in 1917 who patented the first automatic traffic light that uses red and green. This design has a choice of automatic or manual. Then in 1920, a police officer from Detroit, William Potts, developed an automatic traffic light system. One of them adds three colors not only red and green, but also yellow as a sign of caution.

Congestion does not only belong to the city of Jakarta. Big cities in the world, including in developed countries, cannot be separated from the heavy traffic congestion. London, for example, Business Insiders called this city the city with the worst traffic in Europe because of congestion. London is ranked number four in Europe, even Tom Tom ranks London as the 25th most congested city in the world.

Since a long time ago, London has been familiar with traffic jams. By the middle of the 19th century, the city was already experiencing a serious traffic jam. In a book entitled Victorian London: The Life of a City 1840–1870 written by Liza Picard, there were already 13 thousand vehicles, including horse-drawn carriages passing through the streets of London at that time. The most chaotic situation occurred on Jalan Temple Bar. , Bank of England, and London Bridge. Vehicle congestion on those roads occurs during working hours. In addition to the large number of vehicles that pass, the streets of the City of London in the past are also full of pedestrians. In 1854 there were 200 thousand pedestrians in the center of London.

Picard said “lawmakers even risked their lives to cross Bridge Street to get to the parliament building.” One of the most important men of the time, Colonel Pierpont, had a hard time crossing St. James Street to get to his favorite club. Heavy traffic clearly makes it difficult for pedestrians, especially when dealing with crossroads. If left unchecked it will cause jams and accidents. December 10, 1868, today 151 years ago, lightsfirst traffic was introduced to regulate road junctions. A traffic light is installed near the British parliament building in Westminster. Set for the crossroads between Great George Street and Bridge Street.

The shape of the traffic lights at that time was certainly very different from the traffic lights of today. The traffic light looks like an officer who stands upright 20 feet tall and gives a signal with his “hand.” A hand or a 90 degree iron stretch with a red light means to stop. A 45 degree range of iron with the green light on means the way. At that time there was no yellow light. The traffic light works by using gasoline to move it mechanically.

The first traffic light was created by John Peake Knight, an engineer and train manager. Quoted from the BBC, he once worked to design a railroad signaling system in the UK. From his experience on the railways, in 1865 he became a commissioner of the London Police, Knight tried to apply the railroad signaling system to the highway. However, modern traffic lights did not appear 46 years later. Diane Bailey in her book How the Automobile Changed History said that a crossroads between Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, in 1914, was the place where the first modern traffic lights arrived in the world. This was done after the increasing number of people. vehicles in the US. Two years after installing traffic lights on East 105th Street, the government implemented a legal product called the Federal Aid Road Act to improve the quality of roads in the US.

The completeness of modern traffic lights was beginning to approach what we see today. There is a yellow addition to the modern traffic light. The addition of yellow was carried out after the initiators were worried about the increasing number of vehicles after the first world war. The red and green signals do not signal drivers to “be careful.” Its creator is Garret Morgan, a technician based in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Although his creation was applied in 1914, he only obtained a patent with the number “US1475024 A” on November 20, 1923. Citing the official website of the US Patent and Trademark Office, the patent was later purchased by General Electric (GE) for a dowry of $ 40 thousand.

Technological developments are increasingly accompanied by a growing number of vehicles, traffic light technology has also undergone changes. The patent entitled “Smart Traffic Signal” with the number “US 6989766 B2” created by a team from IBM, is trying to break new ground. The smart traffic light made by IBM is designed to be able to transmit data to vehicles that have previously been paired with a receiver. The data sent is in the form of location and traffic status in real time. Later, the data sent by smart traffic lights will be displayed in the form of visual and audio data on the vehicle. This tool will provide a warning to drivers who receive a message, such as the recommended speed. The riders will be able to optimize the trip, at least avoiding the “stop and go” style of driving, especially at road intersections. The smart traffic lights made by IBM will be able to support the presence of self-driving cars such as Google Waymo and Uber. In the end, traffic light technology developed not only providing a “green light” as a solution to congestion at the beginning of its appearance, but trying to answer the development of vehicle technology. Vehicles that have been the source of traffic jams from the start.

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