the.com/ferris wheel
A circle that moves just enough to feel like progress.
means A large upright wheel with passenger cars mounted on its rim, turning slowly to carry riders up for a view and back down again.
from Named for George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., an American engineer who built the original towering wheel for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, answering organizers' demand for a structure to rival the Eiffel Tower. His 264-foot wheel, hung with 36 cars each holding dozens of people, was such a sensation that 'Ferris wheel' became the generic name for the ride itself — a rare case of a person's name spinning loose from its inventor and into the language.
- origin
- built to out-Eiffel the Eiffel Tower, 1893
- inventor
- named after engineer George Ferris, naturally
- physics
- gondolas stay level via gravity, not motors
- irony
- tallest thrill ride that technically goes nowhere