A Ferris wheel (also known as an observation wheel or big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure, consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas attached to the rim.
The original Ferris wheel was designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such rides.
The Ferris wheel is named after George Washington Gale Ferr...
more
A Ferris wheel (also known as an observation wheel or big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure, consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas attached to the rim.
The original Ferris wheel was designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such rides.
The Ferris wheel is named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge-builder. He began his career in the railroad industry and then pursued an interest in bridge building. Ferris understood the growing need for structural steel and founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridge builders.
Ferris designed and built the Chicago Wheel for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The wheel was intended as a rival to the 324-metre (1,060 ft)...
less
