Today in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated and opened, but it was only one of hundreds of ideas for what should be built there. And some of the other proposed designs were wild. Plus: a new device would be able to extract water from the air wherever the user already is.
Today is (we think) the birthday of Victor Lustig, perhaps the most notorious scammer of all time. He swindled Al Capone once and "sold" the Eiffel Tower twice! Plus: if you need help relaxing these days, try the ambient soundscapes of Swiss artist Zimoun.
The Eiffel Tower was only supposed to stand in Paris for 20 years... but experiments in "wireless telegraphy" helped convince the powers that be to keep the tower in place. Plus: this gallery of the weirdest-looking cars to ever roll off the assembly line is maybe not the aesthetic equal of the Eiffel Tower, but it sure is fun.
