Gustave Eiffel visits the Tower

Sunday March 31^st 1889 at 1.30 p.m., Gustave Eiffel showed some of the famous personalities of the day around what was then the tallest tower in the world.On this inauguration day, Eiffel climbed the 1710 steps leading to the third level of the tower before unfurling the French flag and hearing the 21 canon salute marking the occasion. Eiffel later inscribed these words in a woman's fan : " the French flag is the only one with a 300 meter pole." The Eiffel Tower remained the highest monument in the world until the construction of New York's Chrysler Building in 1930.