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A cooked tagliatella is 8mm wide –12,270 tagliatelle set side by side would match the Tower’s height. 

On three occasions plans were made to build a lift in the Torre Asinelli. The first one was presented in 1887 ahead of the 1888 World Expo.

During the celebration of the papal election of Leon X, in 1513 a cannon was fired and accidentally hit the Tower.

During the Second World War, the city was plagued by bombings and pilots placed bets as to who would be the first to topple the Tower. Fortunately, no one won that wager.

Until 1919, Piazza Ravegnana had five towers: Asinelli, Garisenda, Artenisi, Guidozagni and Riccadonna. The latter three were demolished by the municipality despite feverish opposition from citizens.

In the 15th century a cage for delinquent clergy was hung on the outside of the tower. Moreover, the fortified base of the tower, built in 1488, contained a holding cell that was used to temporarily incarcerate trouble-makers until dawn.

Giovanni Battista Guglielmini performed numerous nighttime experiments from the Tower to study the laws of falling bodies. His experiments were successful and Guglielmini was able to prove the earth’s rotation fifty years before the Foucault pendulum. 

The Asinelli Tower had been hit by lightning on several occasions and in 1824, lightning rods were installed. At one point, in 1727 an attempt was made to protect the tower with a statue of the Archangel Michael.. but this method did not prove to be particularly effective.