Once the sun sets over Paris, the Eiffel Tower is lit in a dazzling display of 20,000 sparkling lights until 11 p.m. (or 1 a.m. during the summer). The show, which occurs nightly at the famous ...

The Tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel, died in 1923, so in 1993 it re-entered public domain, but there’s still un petit problème: The lights installed by Pierre Bideau didn’t ignite until ...