1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: where we flipped through the book of history and bring 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: you a new page every day. Today is August nineteen. 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: The day was August nine, eleven seventy three. Construction began 6 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a monument now famous 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: for its unstable foundation and four degree lean. In eleven 8 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: seventy two, the widow Berta of Bernardo left sixty salty 9 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: or gold coins to the Opena company Les Petrum Santa Maria. 10 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: The organization used these coins to buy stones to build 11 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: the base of a bill tower. On August nine, eleven 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: seventy three, the foundation stones were laid for a fight 13 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: marble bell tower for the cathedral complex in Pizza, Italy. 14 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: Besides the Pizza Cathedral and campanile or freestanding bell tower, 15 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: the complex also included a baptistery and cemetery. The architect 16 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: of the design for the tower is unknown, but the 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: tower was set to be one and eighty five feet 18 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: or fifty six meters tall. It was built in a 19 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: circular ditch on ground made of clay, fine sand and shells, 20 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: but by the time three of the towers eight stories 21 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: were built. About five years after construction began, it became 22 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: clear that the building's foundation was settling unevenly on the 23 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: ground that was causing it to tilt slightly, but construction 24 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: came to a halt since war broke out between the 25 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: city states in Italy. During this break, the foundation was 26 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: given time to settle, which probably kept the tower from falling. 27 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: Construction on the tower did not begin again until twelve 28 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: seventy two, almost a century later. Giovanni di Simone, the 29 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: new chief engineer on the project, added extra masonry to 30 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: the short side of the tower to try to fix 31 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: the lean, but the tower sunk even further with the 32 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: additional weight. By twelve seventy eight, when construction once again stopped, 33 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: the tower tilted to the south by about one degree 34 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: or about two point seven feet. As construction continued and 35 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: builders attempted to correct the lean, the degree of the 36 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: angle only increased. By thirteen sixty, it was at about 37 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: one point six degrees. There are two spiral staircases inside 38 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: of the building. When work on the bell chamber began, 39 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: builders added six steps from the seventh corners to the 40 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: bell chambers floor on the south side, but only built 41 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: four steps on the north side. The town hour was 42 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: completed around thirteen seventy seven bills were installed in it, 43 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: the largest of which was put up in sixteen fifty five, 44 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: but despite attempts to correct the lean through methods like 45 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: reinforcement and cement crowding, the building kept entering towards collapse. 46 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,399 Speaker 1: It reached a tilt of about five point five degrees 47 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: or fifteen feet by nineteen ninety. At this point, the 48 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: Tower of Pizza was closed and engineers worked on straightening it. 49 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: They managed to decrease the lean by more than a foot, 50 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: and the tower straightened even more over the following years. 51 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,119 Speaker 1: The leaning Tower of Pizza is projected to stay stable 52 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: for the next two centuries unless some kind of natural 53 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: disaster happens that affects its stability. The cathedral complex is 54 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: now known as the Piazza Day Middlecoly or Square of Miracles. 55 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Stepcote and hopefully you know a little more 56 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If there's something 57 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: that I missed in an episode, you can share it 58 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: with everybody else on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at t 59 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: d I h C Podcast. Thanks for showing up. We'll 60 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: meet here again tomorrow. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 61 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 62 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.