
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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Martin Couney, Saved Thousands of Premature Babies Wasn’t a Doctor at All
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Atomic Tourism: In the 1950s, nuclear tests in Las Vegas served as a draw for tourists
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The mysterious secret of Dr James Barry
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The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
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How 18th Century Women’s Rights Movements Shaped Modern Equality
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The true story Of The Radium Girls that change US labor laws
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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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How Dmitri Mendeleev Developed the periodic table of the elements
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Knockers-up: waking up the Industrial Britain's Workers in 1900-1941
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Max Headroom Incident: America’s Creepiest TV Hack
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Inside China’s Footbinding Tradition: The Painful Ritual of Lotus Shoes and Bound Feet
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How Sleep Deprivation Was Once Used as Torture
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Susanna Salter: The Trailblazing Story of America’s First Female Mayor
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The 1814 London beer flood
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Why the Brooklyn Bridge Was Once Crossed by 17 Camels and 21 Elephants
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Ancient Egyptians Had Pregnancy Tests Over 3500 Years Ago
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During the 1996 Olympic bombing, Richard Jewell falsely accused of committing the crime after saving dozens of people
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story of the youngest mother in the world at age of five - Lina Medina
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How did Howard Florey discover penicillin
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