The CN Tower - tall, majestic and the epitome of Toronto and the pride of the Canadian people. It can give the bravest of the brave acrophobia and it can cure acrophobia. The tower beckons new comers to Toronto to take the ride of a lifetime into her dizziness heights while she welcomes old friends.
On this day in 1975 the 36th piece (44 in total) of the antenna mast was placed, making the CN Tower the tallest structure in the world.
Before the antenna could be lifted, however, the giant crane used for four years of round-the-clock service to build the tower would have to be dismantled and brought down.
To do all this moving, "Olga" - a 10 ton Sikorsky helicopter used primarily for industrial lifting - was flown to Toronto. On her first trip, tragedy almost struck.
As Olga was removing the first piece of the boom, the crane lurched, twisted and seized the supporting bolts.
Now hovering about 1,500 feet up, Olga was basically attached to the Tower, with 50 minutes of fuel (the job was supposed to take only 12 minutes). The crane couldn't just be released, either. The operator was still inside.
Steel workers scrambled up and burned off the bolts, finally releasing the crane from the tower. Olga landed with about 14 minutes of fuel left.
I can’t believe this incident was not made into a movie-of-the-week for television.
On April 2, 1975 the construction of the tower was officially completed leaving workers with the task of smoothing the rough edges.
The tower opened to the masses (12,000 attended) on June 26, 1976 at midnight. The official opening ceremonies began on Oct. 1, 1976 with the sealing of a time capsule which contains: a letter from Pierre Trudeau (Prime Minister from Apr. 20th, 1968 to June 3rd, 1979 and from March 3rd, 1980 to June 30th, 1984), who also officially sealed the capsule; letters from each of the Provincial Premiers congratulating the tower; letters about the tower from various school children; copies of the three daily newspapers (Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail) and Canadian coins and bills of various denominations; lastly "To The Top", the video about the construction of the tower.
In 2076, 66 years from now, the capsule, which is embedded in the Look Out level of the tower, is scheduled to be open.
On Jan.4, 2010 the CN Tower had to bow down to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates as the world’s tallest building at 2, 717 ft . Thankfully, the antenna makes the CN Tower the tallest tower on the planet.
Other facts of the tower: The tower cost $63 million in 1975 which is worth about $234.80 million today; it took 40 months to complete; 1,537 construction workers; tower weighs 130,000 tons; 1.8 million people visit the tower annually.
From the pits of earth to the dizziness heights, Canadians are constantly breaking world records. These amazing facts makes it to a new home in It’s Our History, Our Country.
Visit these video links about the CN Tower
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCm2UCj6eDU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCm2UCj6eDU[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CvM3VB0R7Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CvM3VB0R7Q[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebBte7VeutU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebBte7VeutU[/url]
Ronald Wolf——
Bio and Archives
Ronald Wolf wolfthewriter.com is a college graduate of a renowned journalism program at Niagara College in Welland, Ontario Canada. He has been published in numerous newspapers and magazines in three different countries. He is a former newspaper owner who specializes in photography and writing.
He presently resides in northwestern, Ontario Canada where he continues to research and write articles about Canadian history, Canadian paranormal and other interesting articles.
