Turning TWENTY
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Standing on the banks of
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the Thames, the London Eye was originally planned as a temporary structure for five years. But in July 2002, it was granted a permanent licence.
Today, the London Eye has
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3.75million passengers per year, enough to fill Wembley Stadium 41 times.
It also receives more visitors
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than the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid of Giza.
On a clear day, you can see
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about 25 miles from the top of the London Eye – as far as Windsor Castle, Berks.
In one year it rotates about
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2,170 miles – the distance from London to Cairo.
There have been more than
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5,000 proposals on the London Eye, most of these in private Cupid’s Capsules accompanied by a host and champagne.
The London Eye can carry
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800 passengers per rotation – equivalent to 11 London red double decker buses.
There are 32 capsules
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total – one for each of London boroughs. in the
THE London Eye is flying high as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
While the attraction was formally opened by then-prime Minister Tony Blair on New Year’s Eve 1999, it didn’t open
For superstitious reasons
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they are numbered 1 to 33, with capsule 13 left out for good luck.
Each of the 32 capsules
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weighs 10 tonnes – that’s about the same as three adult hippos!
The design of the London
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Eye is similar to that of a bicycle wheel but is 200 times the size.
Each rotation takes approximately
12 30 minutes, meaning that a capsule travels at 0.6 miles per hour.
This slow rate of rotation
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allows passengers to step on to the public until March 9 due to a technical problem.
It’s now the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK and NADINE LINGE reveals 20 fast facts about the big wheel… and off without the wheel having to stop.
The Olympic torch took a ride
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on top of the London Eye in 2012, carried by 17-year-old Amelia Hempleman-adams – the youngest person to reach the North Pole.
The circumference of the
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wheel is 1,392ft – meaning if it was unravelled, it would be about 1.25 times higher than the UK’S tallest building, the Shard.
The height of the London Eye
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is 443ft – the same as 64 red telephone boxes piled on top of each other. 17 In 2019, to mark the end of
British Summer Time, the London Eye rotated backwards for the first time.
Supermodel Kate Moss
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currently holds the record for most visits by a UK celebrity. She’s racked up 25.
Since opening, the London
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Eye has been the focal point of the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve firework celebrations.
Movie buffs will have spotted
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it in numerous films, including Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix and Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.