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Iron expands when it gets hot. That means every summer, the Eiffel Tower stretches. It gains up to 15 centimeters in height. The sun-facing side heats up faster than the shade. This forces the entire 10,000-tonne structure to lean slightly away from the sun, tracing a slow curve across the sky until dusk. Gustave Eiffel planned for this in 1889. He engineered all 18,000 iron pieces and 2.5 million rivets to flex seamlessly instead of snap. The tower was originally built as a temporary attraction for the World’s Fair. Parisian purists hated it. It survived demolition only because the military realized it made a highly effective radio antenna. Good engineering does not fight physics. It moves with it.

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