Gustave Eiffel was born on December 15, 1832, in
Dijon, France. He died on December 27, 1923, at the age of 91.
As a child Eiffel was smart but lazy. Slowly his habits of study improved. His family had a lot of money. In the end, he was able to go to a famous, important, but hard university in
Paris called
Central School (École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures). He graduated with a master’s degree in science in 1855. He then went to work leading others in building railway bridges.
In the late 1880s, leaders in France wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. They decided to have a world’s fair in 1889. They also decided to have a very big tower at the entrance to the fair. They asked Eiffel to lead the building of it. It took 300 workers two years to build the iron tower. When finished, it stood 1,063 feet (324 m) tall.
At first many people thought it was ugly, hated it, and sent angry letters to newspapers in Paris. Today it is a popular symbol of both Paris and France. Over 200,000,000 people have visited it since it first opened.
Copyright © 2012 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.
