1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: a show that gives a quick look it's something that 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: happened a long time ago. Today I'm Gay Bluesier and 5 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're looking at the day when a 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: breakthrough in radio science helped protect one of the most 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: famous landmarks in the world. The day was January twelfth, 8 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: French radio pioneer Gustaf Ferrier transmitted the first long distance 9 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: message ever sent from the Ffel Tower. The successful transmission 10 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: convinced the French Army of the utility of radio communications 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: and ensured that the Ffel Tower would not be torn 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: down as originally intended. Today it's hard to imagine the 13 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: Paris skyline without the iconic Effel Tower, but it was 14 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: never intended to be a permanent addition. In eighteen eighty nine, 15 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: Paris hosted the World's Fair, also known as the Exposition Universal, 16 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: as a way to mark the one hundredth anniversary of 17 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,479 Speaker 1: the French Revolution. The city wanted an eye catching structure 18 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: to mark the entrance to the fair on the sham 19 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: dumas a public green space in the middle of Paris. 20 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: High profile artists from across the country submitted proposals, but 21 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: in the end, the city chose Gustav Effel's three hundred 22 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: meter high tower. Ethel received a twenty year lease on 23 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: the land, meaning that full ownership of the lot and 24 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: the tower would revert to the city of Paris on 25 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: January first, nineteen ten. The artist hated the idea that 26 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: his masterpiece would be demolished due to a perceived lack 27 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: of utility, so from very early on he started looking 28 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: for a practical function that his tower could serve. Beyond 29 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: providing spectacle, Effel turned his attention to scientific research, believing 30 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,679 Speaker 1: that if his tower served as the site of scientific breakthroughs, 31 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: no one would dare to tear it down. At first, 32 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: Effel didn't commit the tower to just one branch of study, 33 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: declaring that quote it will be an observatory and a 34 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: laboratory such as science has never had at its disposal. 35 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: Throughout the eighteen nineties, the Efel Tower served as the 36 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: test site for weather research, powered flight, and eventually radio communications. 37 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: There were successes in all of these areas, but it 38 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: was the emerging field of radio technology that ultimately saved 39 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: the Ffel Tower. In late eighteen, gust Off Fel invited 40 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: inventor Eugene Ducrete to conduct experiments from the tower's third floor. 41 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: On November five of that year, Ducrete succeeded in establishing 42 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: the first radio contact in Morse code between the fl 43 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: Tower and the historic Pantheon, about four kilometers or two 44 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: and a half miles away. At the time, the primary 45 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: way to communicate over long distances was by using a 46 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: telegraph to send a message across an electric wire. Ducrete's 47 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: experiments made him the first person in France to send 48 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: a telegraph message not with wires, but with radio waves instead. 49 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: Following his success, a permanent transmitting station was installed on 50 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: the tower, and a year later it enabled the first 51 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: radio transmissions between Paris and London. By nineteen oh three, 52 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: Gustoff Fell was still concerned that his tower might be 53 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: knocked down, so he decided to make a play for 54 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: the military. He invited army officials to conduct their own 55 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: experiments on radio communications at the tower, and to sweeten 56 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: the deal, i Fell even paid the army's expenses. By 57 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: that point, military authorities were intrigued by the potential of 58 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: budding radio technology, and with a Fell footing, the bill, 59 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: they couldn't pass up the chance to see what it 60 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: could really do. Captain Gustav Ferrier of the Army Engineering 61 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: Corps was tasked with conducting the research on the Army's behalf. 62 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: Ferrier was a graduate of the prestigious Polytechnic School in France, 63 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: and since eighteen ninety seven he had served as the 64 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: head of the newly formed Military Telegraphy School, where he 65 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: was considered an expert on telegraph communications. Ferrier carried out 66 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: his work from a wooden shack at the foot of 67 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: the tower southern pillar. From there, he and a small 68 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: team of specialists began making radio contact with various forts 69 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: around Paris. Within a year, Ferrier had established communication with 70 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: eastern forts as far as four hundred kilometers or two 71 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty miles away. The next milestone was making 72 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: contact with a naval base all the way in Tunisia, 73 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: but the team didn't stop there and continued working to 74 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: extend their range over the course of several years. Finally, 75 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: on January twelfth, eight Ferrier achieved true long distance communication 76 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: by transmitting a radio message to a military installation six 77 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: thousand kilometers or thirty seven hundred miles away. Before the 78 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: year was out, the Fel Tower was broadcasting wireless telegraph 79 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: signals to ships and forts as far away as Berlin, Germany, Casablanca, Morocco, 80 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: and even North America. This breakthrough was more than enough 81 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: to convince the French Army of the importance of radio 82 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: communications and modern warfare. The military established a permanent radio 83 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: station at the tower in nineteen o nine, and in 84 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, Gustoff Ifell got his wish when the city 85 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: of Paris renewed the structures permit for an additional seventy years. 86 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: The fl Tower had been saved. From then on, the 87 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: tower continued to serve as a transmitter and receiver for 88 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: radio transmissions. In fact, many German messages were intercepted by 89 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: the towers Antennis stand during the First World War. This 90 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: allowed the French Army to thwart several key German attacks 91 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: and even led to the arrest of Mata Hari, the 92 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: Dutch exotic dancer turned notorious spy. With the towers strategic 93 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: importance well demonstrated, its broadcasting abilities were then open to 94 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: public use. In nineteen twenty one, the towers radio station 95 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: and transmitting the first music programs in France and In nine, 96 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: a transmitter on the tower began broadcasting the country's first 97 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: television signals from a nearby studio. Today, more than a 98 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: hundred antennas and satellite dishes adorn the tower summit, extending 99 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: its height by a full twenty four meters and making 100 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: it the tallest structure in Paris. Although it's no longer 101 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: an active research site, the Ffel Tower owes its existence 102 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: to science. The vision of Gustave I Fell and the 103 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: brilliance of Gustave Ferrier made certain the tower survival, and 104 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: both men would be happy to know that recent analysis 105 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: suggests the tower will stand for at least another two 106 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: hundred to three hundred years. I'm Gave Louisier, and hopefully 107 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 108 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with 109 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and 110 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if you 111 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: have any comments or suggestions, you can always send them 112 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: my way at this day at I heart media dot com. 113 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 114 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 115 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: for another day in History class For more podcasts from 116 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or 117 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.