
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.


How did Howard Florey discover penicillin
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Nuclear bomb accidentally dropped on North Carolina in 196
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Ea-Nasir: world's oldest written customer complaint
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Saudi Arabia camel carvings dated to prehistoric era
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Story of Kathrine Switzer: the first woman to run in Boston Marathon
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Why the Brooklyn Bridge Was Once Crossed by 17 Camels and 21 Elephants
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Franz Ferdinand’s Assassination that sparked World War I
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The touching story of David Vetter (bubble boy), the 'boy who lived in a bubble
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The worst blizzard in recorded history: the 1972 Iran blizzard
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Irena Sendler: woman who rescued Jews during holocaust
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Moondyne Joe: The story of Australia's most notorious prison escapee
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The mysterious secret of Dr James Barry
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The Horrific story of Ariel Castro and the Cleveland abduction
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How a Total Lunar Eclipse Saved Christopher Columbus in 1504
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Ancient Jericho: The First Walled City In History
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A Brief History of the PlayStation Gaming Console
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Man's Blood Helped Save Millions of Babies
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Juliane Koepcke: The Teenager Who Fell 10,000 Feet And Trekked The Jungle to survive
In 1971, a high school student was sucked out of an airplane after it was struck by lightning. She fell 10,000 feet to the ground while still strapped to her chair and survived. Only to endure a 9-day trek to the nearest civilization.

story of the youngest mother in the world at age of five - Lina Medina
Lina Medina, a five-year-old Peruvian girl, became the youngest mother in history in 1939 when she gave birth to a boy.

The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
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How Greek prime minister in 1830’s tried to spread the potato in Greece
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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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Underground Railroad to Mexico freed thousands of slaves in 1829
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How 18th Century Women’s Rights Movements Shaped Modern Equality
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