Trivia

Because we’re going to the Osaka World Expo we watched a few documentaries on past World Expo/Fairs.  In 1893 the World’s Fair was hosted in Chicago.

George Washington Gale Ferris created the……Ferris Wheel.  

*George was born in Galesburg, IL.  My good friend Mary is also from Galesburg.  Do you know anybody from Galesburg, a city of 32,000?  (Carl Sandburg, Charles Walgreen)

*George is named in honor of the city’s founder, George Washington Gale. 

*George created the giant wheel to outshine Paris. The Eiffel Tower was part of the 1889 Paris World Expo.

The Ferris wheel could hold over 2,000 people at a time, 60 people per car.  It was a success but organizers were unsure what to do with it after the fair. It was huge.  It was made up of more than 100,000 pieces,  the axle weighted 71 tons. A wrecking company (?!) bought it then sold it to the 1904 St. Louis World Expo. Two years later, after the Fair the Ferris wheel was dynamited.