You Know These Landmarks, But Not Their Secrets

Bright Side

You probably know famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall of China, but did you know they have hidden secrets? For example, there's a secret apartment at the top of the Eiffel Tower where its designer, Gustave Eiffel, used to hang out. The Statue of Liberty has a tiny room inside her torch, but you can't visit it because it’s been closed since 1916 after an explosion damaged it. Even Mount Rushmore has a “Hall of Records” behind the presidents' heads, holding historical documents no one really talks about. These landmarks are full of surprises, proving there’s always more than meets the eye!  Credit: You Asked For It / YouTube Atlas Obscura / YouTube Brighton & Hove Museums / YouTube Jwingman / YouTube Spectrum News / YouTube Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00If you're looking for the coolest accommodation in Paris, you may consider an apartment inside

00:06the Eiffel Tower.

00:07When Gustave Eiffel was designing his most famous construction, he added a private apartment

00:12for himself right at the top.

00:15It's rather spacious, especially for Paris, where people often live in apartments 10 times

00:20smaller.

00:21It had a workshop, living space, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and piano.

00:26But there was no bedroom, so it's likely that no one ever slept there.

00:30No one lives there now except for the mannequins of Eiffel himself, his daughter, and one of

00:35Thomas Edison.

00:37Members of the scientific community chosen by Eiffel and other notable guests were allowed

00:42to visit the property, and Edison was one of the chosen ones.

00:47Across the pond, the New York Public Library also hosts secret apartments for the staff.

00:53These apartments used to be a normal thing in different library buildings across the

00:57city, but now there are only 13 left out of 30.

01:01One superintendent lived in the library on 42nd Street for many years, and his own daughter

01:06was even born inside that building.

01:08The apartments came in different sizes, and some had up to 8 rooms.

01:13By 2006, the last resident custodian retired, and now these apartments are used for other

01:18library needs.

01:21It's known as the tallest building in the world, but Burj Khalifa is actually not one

01:26but several constructions connected into one.

01:29It has a Y-shaped plan, and if you look at it from above, it resembles a spider lily.

01:37It's uber-flexible and can bend a little bit when there are strong winds or even earthquakes,

01:42so it stands safe and strong.

01:44Burj Khalifa has over 24,000 windows, and it takes a crew of 36 people around 3 months

01:50to clean them all.

01:52There's a crypt beneath the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and visitors pass through

01:57it every day.

01:58The first architect of this famous landmark designed it as a grand vestibule, which means

02:04just a big entrance hall.

02:06Several years later, plans changed, and the room was supposed to become the final resting

02:10place for George Washington and his wife Martha.

02:13She agreed to it, and architects changed the Capitol plans to add a tomb below the

02:18famous rotunda.

02:19They also planned to put a statue of Washington on top, and there was going to be a 10-foot

02:24hole in the ceiling so people could look down and see his tomb from the rotunda.

02:29But Congress couldn't agree on all the details of this memorial, and the tomb remained empty.

02:35Years later, workers closed the big hole in the floor, which was meant to give light to

02:39the tomb because cold air was leaking into the rotunda.

02:43At some point, the crypt was used for bicycle parking.

02:46Today, it has statues of famous people from the 13 original colonies, and George Washington

02:51and his wife are buried out back.

02:53No, actually, they're in Mount Vernon.

02:55There's a hidden clock and a calendar in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

03:00The 83-foot obelisk works like a giant sundial, using its shadow to show the time and even

03:06mark special days like the solstices.

03:09When the sun is at its highest point in the sky, called solar noon, the shadow of the

03:14obelisk falls on a line of stones on the ground.

03:17On the winter solstice, the shadow reaches its farthest point.

03:21On the summer solstice, the shadow is much shorter.

03:24There are also 5 other special markers that show when the sun enters different zodiac

03:29signs.

03:30The long, thin granite line running from the obelisk toward the Pope's window shows exactly

03:35when it's noon.

03:37British seaside Brighton stands on top of a secret network of underground tunnels with

03:43Victorian sewer systems and a hidden road.

03:46They say the tunnels were built below the Royal Pavilion so that King George IV could

03:51go on, you know, secret dates.

03:54History experts say it's not true, and the king actually used tunnels to keep his servants

03:58out of sight when they moved between the pavilion and the stables.

04:03The 30 miles of tunnels are now over 150 years old, and you can see some of them with

04:08an organized tour.

04:10But some parts of them are still in use.

04:13One tunnel serves as an emergency relief valve for heavy rain.

04:16Another tunnel has a shooting range inside.

04:20The bascule chambers inside the Tower Bridge are one of the coolest hidden spaces in London.

04:26These spacious rooms were built as an operational center to let the bridge's huge counterweights

04:31move for the bridge to open.

04:33They were the final stage in the construction of the bridge.

04:36Now if you're lucky, you can see these chambers on a special behind-the-scenes tour of the

04:40bridge.

04:41You'd have to descend 115 steps below water level until you get into the cold and damp

04:47space with rumbling overhead.

04:50Sometimes they organize concerts here, and the acoustics are just perfect.

04:56In the early 1930s, there was a real race in New York to construct the tallest building.

05:01Once 40 Wall Street was finished, it won the title.

05:04But then, the architect of the Chrysler Building added a spire to its top, and it became the

05:10new champion.

05:12The spire was waiting all this time inside the top of the building.

05:16Workers had to carefully lift each section of it and assemble it on top.

05:20They used nearly 4 million bricks to finish the whole building and lay them all out by

05:25hand.

05:26There were also some elements from Chrysler's automotive empire, like hubcaps, fenders,

05:31and radiator caps.

05:32There was a private apartment and office on the top of the building for the founder of

05:36the Chrysler Corporation.

05:38They say he liked to brag he had the highest toilet in Manhattan.

05:42I'm sure he was flush with pride.

05:46The Capitol Records building in Los Angeles has been sending secret messages since it

05:50opened, and you need to know Morse code to understand them.

05:54That secret message is Hollywood.

05:56The light has been sending the same message since the opening in 1956, but it has changed

06:02a couple of times.

06:04In 1992, to celebrate Capitol Records' 50th anniversary, it flashed Capitol 50.

06:10Then, before Katy Perry's album release in 2013, the message was also changed, but

06:17hardly anyone noticed the difference.

06:19One more fun fact about the building – it was the first circular office building in

06:23the world.

06:25Producer Samuel Lionel Roxy Rothafel designed a hidden apartment for himself in the Radio

06:31City Music Hall in New York City.

06:33He chose for the apartment, now called the Roxy Suite, to be decorated in the Art Deco

06:38style.

06:40It has 20-foot-high ceilings covered in gold leaf and walls with floor-to-ceiling plush

06:44drapes.

06:46Some of the most famous guests of the apartment were Judy Garland, Walt Disney, and Samuel

06:51Goldwyn.

06:52Today, it only opens for special occasions and looks exactly the same as it did in 1936.

06:59You might be able to rent it out for a private event, but they say the prices are very high.

07:05Grand Central Station in New York has a great hidden activity for travelers.

07:10There are tennis courts in a secret space named the Annex.

07:14This area used to be a recording studio.

07:16Now the location is known as the Vanderbilt Tennis Club, and you can visit it and play

07:21tennis there.

07:23The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., has a secret sports facility where clerks,

07:29off-duty police officers, and other Supreme Court employees can play basketball.

07:34This court, I mean, the basketball court, is located on the top-fifth floor of the building

07:39and goes under the nickname, The Highest Court in the Land.

07:43There's a fun sign next to it saying, Playing basketball and weightlifting are prohibited

07:48while the court is in session.

07:50Well, we wouldn't want to tempt the justices to, you know, drop everything they're doing

07:54to play a game of horse, but I think that would be fun.

08:00That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like

08:04and share it with your friends.

08:06Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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