Happy 30th Birthday!!!

The famous Canadian landmark, the CN Tower celebrated it's 30th birthday today. I remember when it was being built and I have visited it many times having grown up in Southern Ontario. If you haven't visited it, do so. I have even eaten in the revolving restaurant in my youngers days when someone was trying to impress me. It wasn't The Bishop!


The 17 Things You Never Knew About The CN Tower

It is 1,815 feet and 5 inches tall.

It opened on June 26, 1976.

Who says lightning never strikes twice?
The CN Tower is hit by a bolt from the blue an average of 78 times a year.

Hold on to your stomach!
It takes between 58 and 61 seconds to go from the bottom to the top by elevator, an average of about 22 kilometres an hour.

Don't worry about falling.
The famous Glass Floor on the indoor observation deck can withstand a weight of 600 lbs. per square inch - or roughly 14 adult hippopotami.

The Tower is supposed to be able to withstand an earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter Scale. Let's hope they never have to put that to the test.

It can also survive the worst hurricane, being able to remain standing in a gale blowing 420 kilometres an hour.

The cement needed to build the structure would be enough for a sidewalk that stretches from here to Kingston.

The stairwell originally consisted of 1,760 steps and is the tallest such set of metal stairs in the world. A city firefighter named made it all the way to the top in a record 7 minutes 52 seconds on October 29, 1989.

When the Tower was slightly redesigned in 1996, more stairs were added. They now number 2,579.

It's been the scene of silly stunts, including Ashrita Furman's July 23, 1999 successful bid to "climb" the Tower stairs on a pogo stick, and the equally victorious attempt by two men to haul a 440 lbs. piano up the stairway. It took them 7.5 hours, but they made it.

It took 1,537 workers toiling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 40 months to complete the construction on time. No word on the overtime bill.

There are many towers that actually dwarf Toronto's landmark, but they have guy wires attached to them, making the CN Tower the largest free standing structure in the world, according to the Guinness Book of world Records.

The Petronius Oil Platform in the Gulf of Mexico is actually higher than the CN Tower's 1,815 feet, 5 inches, but because all but its tip is underwater, its 2,116 feet doesn't make the grade.

Stuntman Dar Robinson jumped off the Tower twice, once in 1979 for the film "Highpoint" and again for the TV show "That's Incredible".

A time capsule containing a letter from then P.M. Pierre Trudeau, copies of three Toronto daily newspapers and a collection of Canadian bills and coins is "buried" inside the walls of the Tower on the Lookout level. It won't be opened until 2076.

The Tower is the only Canadian landmark that appears in the video game SimCity4 and SimCity 3000.