1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbong here. The Eiffel Tower is one of the 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: world's most famous selfie backdrops, but it's also home to 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: a little known apartment with an intriguing history steeped in 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: science and secrecy. The Eiffel Tower was unveiled in Paris 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: as the Peace to Resistance of the nineteen nine World's Fair. 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: It was engineered as a testament to France's technological machinations 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: and as a monumental way to mark the one d 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: anniversary of the French Revolution. Gustav Eiffel, whose company designed 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: and built the tower, added a number of furtive extras 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,559 Speaker 1: to it, ranging from a secret apartment to telegraph and 12 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: radio broadcast equipment. It was this apartment that may have 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: saved the Eiffel Tower from being torn down as a 14 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: temporary exhibit left over from the World's Fair, a demolition 15 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: that was slated for twenty years from the time of 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: its debut. Turns out, the French government discovered and appreciated 17 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: the wireless Yes wireless in eighteen eighty nine telegraphed transmitter 18 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: and radio antenna so much that it opted to keep 19 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: and care for the tower indefinitely. In nineteen o three, 20 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: just six short years before the tower was set to 21 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: be demolished, Eiffel doubled down on his invitations to scientists 22 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: to host brainy discussions and conduct research from within the 23 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: towers little known apartment. The apartment, about a thousand feet 24 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: or three ds off the ground, was outfitted with cozy rugs, chairs, 25 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: and other comforts, but it also had adjacent spaces to 26 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: serve as many laboratories. From this bird level apartment, the 27 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: atmosphere was measured, the stars and planets were observed, and 28 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: the bounds of physics were explored by some of the 29 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: greatest minds of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, 30 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: and in a French captain experimented with wireless broadcast signals, 31 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: eventually sending signals as far as North America. The Eiffel 32 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: Tower and its scientific purpose became too important to the 33 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: French government to be torn down. Just a few years later, 34 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: the tower would play a vital role in World War One, 35 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: when the French military used the our list communicators to 36 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: transmit to ships in the Atlantic Ocean. Today, the Eiffel 37 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: Tower receives about seven million visitors each year, and those 38 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: who purchase a ticket to the top of the tower 39 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: can look for a window at the apartment where Thomas 40 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: Edison once conversed with Eiffel and other invitation only guests. 41 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: For the most part, the apartment's original appearance has been preserved. 42 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: There's a pholstered furniture, a grand piano, and burnished web 43 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: cabinets against a backdrop of patterned wallpaper. The apartment's laboratory 44 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: areas still exhibits some of their original scientific equipment, and 45 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: there's an observatory above the apartment that's not open to 46 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: public viewing. And although you can't stay in the original 47 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: apartment at the Eiffel Tower, there's now another option. The 48 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: Gustav Eiffel Reception Room, situated at a hundred and eighty 49 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: seven feet or fifty seven meters off the ground, is 50 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,959 Speaker 1: open for event rental for a starting fee of seventy 51 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:58,799 Speaker 1: pounds sterling, which is about ten thousand dollars. Today's episode 52 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: was written by Laurel d and produced by Tyler Clang. 53 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 1: The brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's 54 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of 55 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: other topics that aren't at all Tall Tales, visit our 56 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: home planet, how stuff works dot com, and for more 57 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 58 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.