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Which of the following did visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition enjoy?
a) The first funnel cake, served at an Amish stand on the Midway
b) The first escalator, which led to the Japanese Pavilion’s Ho-o-den Temple
c) The first Ferris wheel, invented by an engineer from Pittsburgh
d) The first ice-cream cone, a clever collaboration between an ice-cream vendor and a waffle merchant
Scroll down for the answer.
Answer: c. George Washington Gale Ferris developed the wheel for the Columbian Exposition, hoping to outshine the Eiffel Tower built for Paris’s 1889 International Exhibition. The Ferris wheel became the 1893 fair’s most popular attraction, with as many as 20,000 riders per day. Visitors to the fair also witnessed the debut of the moving sidewalk and, to the joy of hipsters everywhere, PBR.