10 World Expo Inventions That Will Blow Your Mind

10 EYOM WORLD EXPO INVENTIONS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND THE PHONOGRAPH 1878 Paris World Expo Who knew that tinfoil played a vital role in sound production? Before it became a kitchen staple, Thomas Edison was using the shiny stuff to record and reproduce sound in his newly invented phonograph. The device was introduced to the public at the 1878 World Expo in Paris. THE FERRIS WHEEL 1893 Chicago World's Fair Now an amusement park fixture across the globe, the ferris wheel made its debut as the largest attraction at the Chicago World Fair in 1893. Designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr, the original Ferris wheel stood 80.4 metres tall and rotated on a 71-tonne, 45.5-foot axle. THE ZIPPER 1893 Chicago World's Fair That nifty metal thing that fastens your trousers made its first O appearance at the Chicago World Fair in 1893. Designed by Whitcomb Judson, the revolutionary idea came to him after he saw a stiff-backed friend struggling to do up his shoes. THE X-RAY MACHINE 1901 Buffalo Pan-American Exposition When US President William McKinley was shot at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, doctors didn't want to use the X-ray machine that was on display to find the bullet for fear of unknown side effects. THE ICE CREAM CONE 1904 St. Louis World's Fair The ice cream cone was once a type of waffle rolled by hand into a conical shape. It made its debut at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis as the first edible, walk-away ice cream container. It proved so popular with the crowds that an industrial ice cream cone rolling machine was developed soon afterwards. ELECTRICITY 1904 St. Louis World's Fair Celebrating the development of electricity for the masses, The Palace of Electricity was a main attraction at the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis. Thomas Edison, the inventor of electricity, oversaw its presentation to the public. THE HOT DOG 1904 St. Louis World's Fair Would you put on gloves to eat a sausage? When Bavarian sausage seller, Anton Feuchtwanger, ran out of the gloves that he usually gave fair-goers to eat their sausages with, he asked his brother-in-law to create a sausage-sized long bun - and voila! The hot dog was born. 0000000 THE BABY INCUBATOR 1909 Seattle World's Fair Roll up, roll up! At the 1909 World's Fair in Seattle, premature babies were put on display in the newly-invented incubator. People queued for hours to see the tiny babies and paid 25 cents for the privilege. Every time a baby became robust enough to be removed from the incubators, it made national headlines. THE TELEVISION SET 1939 New York World's Fair The humble television set might be a standard feature of many homes today, but it wasn't until 1939, when US President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcast the first televised presidential address at the World's Fair in New York City, that the TV set was introduced to the American public. THE MOBILE PHONE 1970 Osaka World's Fair It's hard to imagine life without mobile phones, but not so long ago, the only telephones that existed had to be plugged into a socket. Yet when the first mobiles were shown at the 1970 World's Fair in Osaka, a lunar rock brought back from the Apollo moon missions got far more attention. Coming up: more mind-blowing inventions at future World Expos. EXPO EXPO 2020 DUBAI, UAE MILANO 2015 CANDIDATE CITY FEEDING THE PLANET ENERGY FOR LIFE Cybernetic body parts? Self-driving cars? 3D printed guns? What inventions would you like to see? REFERENCES http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/812.aspx http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/northeast/YearofAnniv/1904_worlds_fair_page_2.html http://fremontlibraries.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/thirteen-facts-about-the-1904-worlds-fair/ https://www.smore.com/we36-a-world-s-fair-extravaganza http://expo2020dubai.ae/en/world_expos/world_expo_legacy http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/World_fairs.aspx http://www.omg-facts.com/History/During-The-1909-World-Fair-In-Seattle-A/51961 http://www.kpluwonders.org/content/why-did-seattle-display-babies-incubators-worlds-fair http://xroads.virginia.edu/ma96/wce/history.html http://www.chicagoelevated.com/2010/03/18/inventions-of-the-columbian-exposition-of- 1893/ http://www.worldstridesblog.com/?p=1263 http://www.museumoftechnology.org.uk/stories/grams.html