The Starlighters Go To Paris 3/19/2023

Did You Know? Radio saved the Eiffel Tower from destruction.

Since Eiffel footed 80 percent of the tower's construction costs, he was permitted to have the structure stand for 20 years in order to recoup his investment before it passed into the hands of the Parisian government, which planned to disassemble it for scrap metal. Seeking a way to prove the structure's strategic utility in a bid to save it, Eiffel erected an antenna atop the tower and financed experiments with wireless telegraphy that began in 1898.

The value of the tower in sending and receiving wireless messages, particularly for the French military, caused the city to renew Eiffel's concession when it expired in 1909.

Today, more than 100 antennae on the tower beam radio and television broadcasts around the world.

Did You Know? With its huge dance floor and spectacular decor, the original Moulin Rouge was extravagant and attracted the bourgeois from all over Paris. Sadly, it was ravaged by a fire in 1915. The auditorium and ballroom were completely destroyed, leaving only the façade and part of the stage standing. However, it was rebuilt in identical form in 1921, as grandiose as when it first began.

Designed by Adolphe Léon Willette, Le Moulin Rouge was the first electric building in Paris. Its colorful, electrically powered facade illuminated the entire Place Blanche to welcome patrons to late-night shows – an image that became a Paris landmark forever.

Did You Know? The Beret Was a Symbol of French Resistance to the Nazi Regime

When the Nazi army occupied France during World War II, the hat became a symbol of France's autonomy and freedom. The French Resistance movement, the Maquis, adopted the beret as their signature hat because of this symbolism and because the hat was common enough not to arouse too much suspicion.

It was the French Army that first used the beret. The Chasseurs Alpins, an elite mountain infantry unit, first wore the beret in the late 19th century. The British army later adopted it after observing the French use them in the First World War.

Foldable, simple, cheap to produce, and tightly fitting, these attributes made it ideal for the soldier. Today, the beret is worn by numerous official military regimes and United Nations peacekeeping forces, each with their color to signify their alliances. Within the United States Army, different colors signify different rankings and associations