May 24, 1904

The ferris wheel at the St. Louis World’s Fair was tested for the first time. It stood twenty-five stories tall and could carry two thousand people. Each of its thirty-six cars was as large as a modern city bus, and its axle was the largest piece of forged steel in the world.

This post was contributed by Joe Sonderman. Joe has written many books on Missouri and Route 66 history. You can find his books on Amazon.com and on 66postcards.com