You Gotta Know These World’s Fairs
- London, 1851: Great Exhibition” The Great Exhibition was the first ever “World’s Fair.” The event was largely organized by Prince Albert and was held in the “Crystal Palace,” a structure nearly three times larger than St. Paul’s Cathedral. Exhibitors included Samuel Colt, who brought a prototype of his “Navy” pistol, and Mathew Brady, a pioneer of daguerreotypes. A boating race held in conjunction with the exhibition was won by a ship called America, leading to its prize becoming known as the America’s Cup. It also featured the world’s first modern pay toilets, which cost a penny to use. The Crystal Palace remained in use for decades after the event was over, but was destroyed by a fire in 1936.
- Paris, 1889: Exposition Universelle Although Paris had hosted the World’s Fair three times before, its 1889 event was easily its most iconic. It is best known for its centerpiece, the Eiffel Tower, which was by far the tallest structure in the world when it was completed. Exhibits were placed throughout the Champ de Mars, including the “Streets of Cairo,” an elaborate interpretation of Egypt’s capital. Another of its most popular attractions was a “human zoo,” in which various indigenous and other non-white people were put on display, a practice that was largely accepted at the time. The Eiffel Tower was scheduled to be dismantled 20 years after the 1889 fair, but its usefulness in telegraphy led to those plans being scrapped.
- Chicago, 1893: World’s Columbian Exposition Chicago’s 1893 fair was nicknamed the “Columbian Exposition” to honor the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the “New World.” A massive pool representing Columbus’s voyage served as its centerpiece. Other debuts at the fair included the first Ferris Wheel, the first chocolate brownies, and the first “squished penny” souvenirs. The event is also associated with multiple controversies. Chicago mayor Carter Harrison was assassinated during its final days, leading to the cancellation of the closing ceremony. Additionally, serial killer H. H. Holmes and his so-called “Murder Castle” are often tied to the fair, though their actual connection is likely minimal. Both the fair and the associated crimes are detailed in Erik Larson’s book The Devil in the White City.
- St. Louis, 1904: Louisiana Purchase Exposition The 1904 World’s Fair was held to honor the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. It saw the debut of the X-ray machine and inspired the popular song “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis.” The fair featured daily re-enactments of battles from the Second Boer War, many of which featured people who had actually fought in it. The 1904 Summer Olympics had been awarded to Chicago but were re-located to St. Louis so they could be held alongside the fair. That change led to very sparse attendance and poorly run events over the course of several months. Novelist Kate Chopin suffered a brain hemorrhage while visiting the 1904 fair and died two days later.
- Brussels, 1958 The first full-scale world’s fair after World War II was held in Brussels in 1958. A lasting symbol of the Brussels fair is the Atomium, a 335-foot model of a unit cell of an iron crystal. The structure, which remains among the city’s most popular attractions, is approximately 165 billion times larger than the cell it represents. The fair also featured the Poème électronique, a piece of electronic music by Edgard Varèse played in a specialized pavilion designed by Le Corbusier. The first universal poll to rank the greatest films was held at the Brussels fair, which was topped by Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin.
- Seattle, 1962: Century 21 Because of the ongoing space race, Seattle’s fair had a strong focus on technology and aerospace. Structures built for the fair include the Space Needle and a monorail, both of which are still standing today. Its “World of Science” building housed the Project Mercury capsule that took Alan Shepard to space, and its “World of Century 21” building offered glimpses of “the future” of cities, cars, and air travel. John F. Kennedy intended to attend the closing of the fair, but was unable to because of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The fairgrounds, now known as the Seattle Center, has since become home to the Museum of Pop Culture.
- New York, 1964 Like the Seattle fair two years earlier, the New York fair was themed around the burgeoning Space Age, particularly with the Unisphere, a massive stainless-steel globe that served as a key symbol of the event. Pope John XXIII allowed Michelangelo’s Pietà to be relocated to the fair’s Vatican Pavilion. Elsewhere, Walt Disney designed several animatronic attractions for the fair, including his first incarnation of the “It’s a Small World” ride. While it is generally named for 1964, the fair had a second “season” the following year as well. A pair of observation towers left over from the fair provide a key plot point to the movie Men in Black.
- Montreal, 1967: Expo 67 Montreal hosted one of the biggest world fairs in history and attracted over half a million visitors just days after opening. One highlight of the fair was the unveiling of Moshe Safdie’s “Habitat 67,” a complex of hundreds of interlocking concrete buildings intended as a model community. The U.S. Pavilion at the fair was a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller, which was later converted into a museum called the Biosphere. In a notorious moment, French president Charles de Gaulle addressed a crowd in Montreal and declared “Long live a free Quebec!,” angering many Canadian politicians.
- Knoxville, 1982 In contrast to larger “World Expos,” Knoxville held a “specialized” fair focused on energy. Structures built for the event include the Sunsphere, a 266-foot tower topped with a golden sphere. The fair also featured the debut of an early version of the touch screen and the introduction of Cherry Coke. American sports were also featured during the event, with the NFL and NBA both hosting exhibition games at local venues. A fictional version of the Sunsphere had a prominent role in an episode of The Simpsons, in which it was converted into the “Wigsphere,” a shop for discount wigs.
- Dubai, 2020 The most recent world fair was scheduled for Dubai in 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it ultimately began in September 2021. The U.S. built a 36,000-square-foot pavilion for the fair, which featured artifacts like Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Qur’an and a moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission. The fair also played host to the 2021 World Chess Championship, which was won by defending champion Magnus Carlsen. Shortly before the fair began, the European Parliament formally opposed the event, citing the UAE’s human rights record, though it had little effect on attendance.
This article was contributed by ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ editor Erik Nelson.