Et Voila!

If you've ever been to a fair, chances are you are familiar with and have probably taken a ride on a Ferris wheel. Today a pleasant ride and great view; its invention was first designed as an attraction for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago and as a competition to Gustave Eiffel's Tower for the Paris Exposition in 1878.

Chicago's George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. was a engineer and businessman who was struck with the enormity of the Eiffel tower project and wished to create something on that scale for the American world fair. The original Ferris wheel measured 80 meters. The structure rotated on an axle foot of about 2 meters and 50,800 kilos. It is the largest piece of steel to ever be forged. The structure completed weighed 3,719,457 kilos. Taking that into consideration, it's easy to see why many engineers thought the machine was an impossibility.

His idea proved successful both then and now. It is said that in the six months of the exposition close to 27 million visitors took a ride on his attraction. Today Ferris wheels are included in most amusement parks and fairs and continued to be loved. The Ferris wheel on Navy Pier in Chicago stands close to where the original, since demolished Ferris wheel once stood, and offers residents and tourists a breath-taking view of the city.