Lightning Striking the Eiffel Tower Postcard

This design features an early photograph showing lightning hitting the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. It is, in fact, one of the very earliest photographs that clearly shows lightning in an urban setting. The photograph comes originally from a book published by Camille Flammarion in 1906 called "Thunder and Lightning" (in French, "Tonnerre et éclairs"). The lightning strike shown here hit the Eiffel Tower on June 3 1902, between 9 and 10 PM. The Eiffel Tower was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, and it has become a global cultural icon of France, as it is one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The tower is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built it.