I. M. Pei’s masterpiece at night in the main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre)

When the Louvre Pyramid opened in 1989 it was not universally well liked. Now considered a symbol of Paris, at the time it was labelled “an annex to Disneyland” by some, and was Chinese American architect I. M. Pei‘s most controversial project in a long career.

Pei was commissioned by French president François Mitterrand to reorganize aspects of the Louvre and it took four years to construct. There are also three smaller glass pyramids surrounding it. The central large pyramid stands 70ft tall in the central courtyard of the Louvre and provides a grand underground entrance to the 12th century palace turned museum in the center of Paris

• 1961 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria
• 1974 Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi’an, 8,000 clay warrior statuesburied to guard the tomb of China’s 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang
• 1999 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 – above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever

Birthdays

Elle Macpherson

Lucy Lawless