8th August: Mont Blanc

It was on this date in 1786 that Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard and his porter, Jacques Balmat, reached the summit of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe at 4,810 m (15,781 ft) above sea level. 10 things you might not know about Mont Blanc:

1. The name Mont Blanc and the Italian Monte Bianco mean "White Mountain". It is also sometimes known as La Dame Blanche (French for "the White Lady") or Il Bianco (Italian for "the White One.")
2. Paccard and Balmat's ascent is said to have marked the beginning of modern mountaineering. Their motivation was no doubt influenced by the fact that Horace-Bénédict de Saussure was offering a prize for the first successful climb.
3. The first woman to reach the summit was Marie Paradis in 1808.
4. There was once an observatory at the summit. Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame, agreed to take on the project if there was a firm foundation to build it on. There wasn't, and he gave up, but the observatory was built anyway in 1893 and lasted until 1909, when a crevasse started to open under it and it had to be abandoned.
5. There have been two plane crashes on the mountain, in 1950 and 1966. Both were Air India flights bound for Geneva.
6. Since 1965, there has been a tunnel underneath it, which connects Chamonix, France and Courmayeur, Italy. It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes between the two countries. 39 people were killed in a fire in the tunnel in 1999, which led to the tunnel being closed for three years for renovations and safety improvements.
7. In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt led an expedition to the peak.
8. In 1960 pilot Henri Giraud landed a plane on the summit which is only 30m (98 ft) long.
9. Mont Blanc is the location of the highest Toilets in Europe, at a height of 4,260 metres, 13,976 feet. They were taken up by Helicopter, and are also serviced by helicopter.
10. In 2007, twenty people set up a hot tub at the summit.