
For more than a century, the Ferris wheel has captured people’s imaginations as a universal symbol of entertainment and spectacle. Today, Ferris wheels come in a variety of sizes and can be found in cities, fairs, and amusement parks all over the world.
However, not as much is known about the Ferris wheel’s past. Who created the “Chicago Wheel” and what served as their inspiration? The story is told in this CBS Sunday Morning video.

The original Ferris wheel was constructed in Chicago, Illinois, for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, as its name implies. Daniel Burnham, the director of Exposition, was presented with the bold idea of a massive metal wheel by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., a visionary structural engineer. The structure was intended to rival the famous Eiffel Tower.

It is said that Ferris was inspired by observing a water wheel. However, even with his structure’s original materials and scale, he wasn’t the first to invent the wheel. According to Smithsonian Magazine:
…a carpenter named William Somers was building 50-foot wooden wheels at Asbury Park, Atlantic City and Coney Island; a roundabout, he called it, and he’d even patented his design. But Ferris had not only been challenged to think big; the huge attendance expected at the fair inspired him to bet big. He spent $25,000 of his own money on safety studies, hired more engineers, recruited investors. On December 16, 1892, his wheel was chosen to answer Eiffel. It measured 250 feet in diameter, and carried 36 cars, each capable of holding 60 people.
Over the course of the fair, over 1.4 million people seized the opportunity to take in the breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and Chicago from an elevation of 80 meters (264 feet) thanks to Chicago’s Ferris wheel, which provided fairgoers with an unprecedented 10-to 20-minute ride.
More than 120 massive Ferris wheels, including gigantic observation wheels in Dubai, Las Vegas, London, Singapore, throughout China, and more, continue to amaze riders, despite the fact that it was sold to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1904 World’s Fair and destroyed for scrap metal in 1906.


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The day Iceland's women went on strike
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Did Gil Pérez Really Teleport from Manila to Mexico Overnight? The 1593 Mystery
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Terry Fox, a 21-year-old one-legged cancer patient who ran 143 days before dying
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Keith Sapsford: The Story of 14-Year-Old Stowaway
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Mario Segale, Developer Who Inspired Nintendo to Name Super Mario
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Story of Kathrine Switzer: the first woman to run in Boston Marathon
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June and Jennifer Gibbons The silent twin who Only Spoke to Each Other
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Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident: Enemy became friends
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The Horrific story of Ariel Castro and the Cleveland abduction
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Thomas Baker's heroic act that earned him the "Medal of Honor" was 8 bullets until death
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The 1814 London beer flood
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Moondyne Joe: The story of Australia's most notorious prison escapee
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Ea-Nasir: world's oldest written customer complaint
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What exactly was the US's 'Ghost Army' during WWII?
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The history of Flour sack clothing fashion
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