Towers of strength
Physics World, 1 Aug 2013
The Eiffel Tower was never intended to be a perma- nent feature of the Parisian landscape. Built for the 1889 World Fair, the plan was to leave the tower in its original location until 1909, when it would be disman- tled piece by piece and reassembled elsewhere. How- ever, with the tower still present in 1925, a fraudster called Victor Lustig spotted an opportunity. Posing as a government official, Lustig convinced six scrap- metal dealers that, as the maintenance costs of the tower had grown to outweigh all its benefits, it was due to be scrapped, and he invited them to bid for the job.
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