
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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Franz Ferdinand’s Assassination that sparked World War I
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Knockers-up: waking up the Industrial Britain's Workers in 1900-1941
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1972 Andes Plane Crash Survivor recall the terrifying Struggles to Stay Alive
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The Bizarre (And Magical) Duel Between Chung Ling Soo And Ching Ling Foo
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The Mouth of Truth: Ancient Rome’s Legendary "Lie Detector" That Bit Off Hands
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The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
In 1986, while doing a night shift at the hospital, Sandra Clarke, a registered nurse, was asked by an elderly patient to stay. She promised to be back after checking on her other patients, but by the time she returned, the gentleman had passed away. Clarke became one of the key figures in launching No One Dies Alone, a program that allows volunteers to sit with terminal patients who have no one else.

Saudi Arabia camel carvings dated to prehistoric era
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How a Total Lunar Eclipse Saved Christopher Columbus in 1504
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Remembering the 1945 Empire State Building Disaster: When a Plane Met Skyscraper
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Archaeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Amazonian Cities Using Lidar Technology
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Nicholas Winton ‘British Schindler’: Man who rescued 669 Czech children from Nazis
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Sylvan Goldman: The Visionary Who Revolutionized Shopping with the Cart
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The mysterious secret of Dr James Barry
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Keith Sapsford: The Story of 14-Year-Old Stowaway
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Jack the Baboon operated a railroad, earned a living, and never made a mistake
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Man's Blood Helped Save Millions of Babies
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The Arabia Steamboat: Unearthing a 19th Century Time Capsule from the Missouri River
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Terry Fox, a 21-year-old one-legged cancer patient who ran 143 days before dying
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The Assassination Of King Alexander
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