The History Of The Ferris Wheel

The Ferris wheel is a timeless classic ride which can be found in amusement parks across the globe. This contraption consists of a wheel in an upright rotating position which contains multiple cars of cabins for carrying passengers. These passenger components are attached to the wheels rim in such a way that as it turns, gravity is used in keeping it in an upright position.

In earlier times around the 17th century, the Ferris wheel was referred to as the Pleasure wheel and its passengers were carried in chairs. These chairs were suspended from wooden rings which were quite large and were turned by some strong men. From the early 1600 until about the late 1660s, a traveller by the name of Peter Mundy described what seemed like an early version of the Ferris wheel (аттракцион колесо обозрения) in both Asia and Europe. He said that it was like that of a crane wheel which turned and children sat on various parts thereof and some how managed to sit upright no matter what.

In 1615, another traveller in Constantinople also described the Ferris wheel which was termed at that time as the Great wheel. He said that it took him upwards and downwards at exorbitant speeds. Throughout the 17th century, the Ferris Wheel was also recorded in various countries around the world such as Romania, Siberia and India. It was only in 1848 that the idea of the Ferris Wheel was introduced to America by a Frenchman known as Antonio Manguino who did so with the construction of a wooden Pleasure wheel in Walton Spring, Georgia as he set up a fair.

In the year of 1892, William Somers put up three 50ft wooden wheels (Бестон аттракционы) in New Jersey at Asbury Park. These were put in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Coney Island, New York. He was then granted the U.S. patent for the first Roundabout. However, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. took a ride on the wheel created by Somers in Atlantic City where he later went on to design his wheel for a Columbian Exposition. The following year, William Somers filled a lawsuit for infringement against Mr. Ferris but the case was later dismissed on the claims that there was a significant change in the technology.

The Chicago Wheel (Чикагское колесо) was also referred to as the original Ferris wheel which was designed by George W. G. Ferris Jr. It stood as the tallest attraction being 264ft at the Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago where it was publically open on the 21st of June 1893. The significant increase in its height was to challenge the Eiffel Tower which stood at 1063ft. As the exposition came to an end in 1893, the Ferris wheel was closed in April of the following year where it was dismantled and stored until it was rebuilt in Chicago’s North Side. The wheel stood operational until from the end of 1895 until 1903 where it was dismantled and rebuilt again at the World’s Fair of St. Louis in 1904. On May the 11th 1906, the Ferris wheel was finally destroyed with the use of dynamite by controlled demolition.