
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 an Israeli F-15 Landed with One Wing: Zivi Nedivi’s Unbelievable Mid-Air Survival
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The World’s First Seismograph: How Ancient China Detected Earthquakes 1,800 Years Ago
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Vince Coleman, a railway dispatcher, sacrificed his own life
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The Arabia Steamboat: Unearthing a 19th Century Time Capsule from the Missouri River
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Medals of Friendship: The Enduring Olympic Story of 1936
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Nathan's Famous Doctor Stunt
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Top 10 most cruel medical procedures that are being used today
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The Assassination Of King Alexander
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8 Interesting Facts About The Unsinkable Ship, TITANIC
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The Baltic Way: the longest unbroken human chain in history
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The day Iceland's women went on strike
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Max Headroom Incident: America’s Creepiest TV Hack
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Shizo Kanakuri’s 1912 Olympic Marathon Finished 54 Years
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The true story Of The Radium Girls that change US labor laws
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10 world’s most destructive and dangerous volcanic eruptions in history
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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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The Littlest Skyscraper: How J.D. McMahon’s 480-Inch Con Fooled Investors in 1919
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How European Rabbits Took over Australia
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Ancient Egyptians Had Pregnancy Tests Over 3500 Years Ago
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Jack the Baboon operated a railroad, earned a living, and never made a mistake
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Terry Fox, a 21-year-old one-legged cancer patient who ran 143 days before dying
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