When Petit Performed A Grand Feat
On this date in 1974, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit performed a tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The night before some of Petit’s cohorts went unnoticed up the north tower while Petit and two friends snuck 250 feet of steel cable and a balancing pole up the south tower. The rigging was set up overnight and, at 7.15 am, Petit began the ‘artistic crime of the century.’ He was arrested after stepping off but charges were dropped as he became a global celebrity.
