The structure known today as the Eiffel Tower was originally dubbed the Tour de 300 mètres, the 300-meter tower. The name was proposed by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nougier to Gustave Eiffel, who oversaw the tower’s construction. It hinted at the desire to build something extraordinary, a technological feat that would set a new height record.
The Eiffel Tower gets bigger every summer—here’s why
