Gustave Eiffel, French civil engineer, 1880s.

Photograph by Walery with Eiffel's facsimile signature. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923). Eiffel designed several notable bridges and viaducts before working on the world-famous Eiffel Tower in Paris. The tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889, commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. Eiffel also designed the steel framework of the Statue of Liberty which was given by the French government to the United States of America, and built the first aerodynamics laboratory near Paris.