The Mistake That Made the Leaning Tower Immortal #history

It has been falling for 850 years — a fraction of an inch a year. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is not famous despite its flaw. It is famous because of it. How a bell tower began to lean before it was even finished, how a war accidentally saved it, how its builders tried to build the lean back out (and gave it its banana curve), and how engineers saved it in 2001 — without ever straightening it. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Falling for 850 years 0:19 A rich port, a rivalry of stone 0:38 The first stone, 1173 0:48 Nobody asked the ground 0:57 It leaned before it was finished 1:16 The pause that saved it 1:35 Building the lean back out 1:54 Finished — and already leaning, 1372 2:03 Gravity's long account 2:13 Closed, 1990 2:23 Eight hundred tonnes of lead 2:33 Spoonful by spoonful 2:42 Saved — and still crooked 2:52 You need to stay standing Facts as verified for this script: construction began August 1173; the lean was apparent by about 1178; foundations are only about 3 metres deep in soft river clay and sand; the long war pause let the soil consolidate; from 1272 the upper storeys were built taller on the sinking side, producing the slight banana curve; the bell chamber was completed in 1372; by 1990 the lean had reached about 5.5 degrees and the tower was closed; roughly 800 tonnes (narrated conservatively) of lead counterweights were stacked on the north side; underexcavation then eased the lean back by about half a degree; the tower reopened in December 2001 and is expected to stand for at least another 200 years.