Happy Ferris Wheel Day!
As noted by nycdeb, today is Ferris Wheel Day! I searched Youtube for that scene in SGA's pilot where Major John Sheppard (see icon) introduces himself to Teyla Emmagan, alien tribal leader, by saying, "I like Ferris wheels, college football, and anything that goes faster than 200 miles per hour."* Could not find it! Fandom, you have let me down!
A note to SGA fanfic writers: it's "Ferris" not "ferris". That's a name, so it needs to be capitalized. Per Wikipedia, the original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed 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 structures.
Sadly, the original Ferris wheel was blow'd up reel gud in 1906 by dynamite, which must have been a lot of fun for all concerned. I wish they'd filmed it.
The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, opened to the public on June 21, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Intended to rival the 324-metre (1,060 ft) Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition, it was the Columbian Exposition's largest attraction, with a height of 80.4 metres (264 ft).
It was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge-builder.
The wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5-foot axle comprising what was at that time the world's largest hollow forging, manufactured in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company and weighing 89,320 pounds, together with two 16-foot diameter cast-iron spiders weighing 53,031 pounds. There were 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160. It took 20 minutes for the wheel to make two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation, for which the ticket holder paid 50 cents.
Fifty cents was a lot of dosh back then, kids. Here are a couple of pictures of the Original Ferris Wheel:
I'll bet it was one of those rides where a gentleman caller would take his intended to give her an excuse to scream and clutch at him. (Apologies for the acute hetero-normativity in that statement, but we're talking about the late 1800's here.)
From this angle, you can really see how Ferris wheel-building is related to suspension bridge-building. For a second, one might confuse this for a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
When I visited London last year, I wanted to go up in the huge "London Eye" Ferris wheel, but sadly the person I was with gave off very intense "Do Not Want" vibes, so I didn't insist. ::is sad::
Not quite a Ferris wheel, but it's such a lovely image I thought I'd put it up anyway. It's a print that I'd very much like to buy on Etsy, but cannot afford to until I get a job. It's called "Play Alone".
*I know it sounds stupid, but cut the man a break! It was literally his first day on the job of Intergalactic Explorer. Besides, it totally worked.
A note to SGA fanfic writers: it's "Ferris" not "ferris". That's a name, so it needs to be capitalized. Per Wikipedia, the original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed 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 structures.
Sadly, the original Ferris wheel was blow'd up reel gud in 1906 by dynamite, which must have been a lot of fun for all concerned. I wish they'd filmed it.
The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, opened to the public on June 21, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Intended to rival the 324-metre (1,060 ft) Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition, it was the Columbian Exposition's largest attraction, with a height of 80.4 metres (264 ft).
It was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge-builder.
The wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5-foot axle comprising what was at that time the world's largest hollow forging, manufactured in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company and weighing 89,320 pounds, together with two 16-foot diameter cast-iron spiders weighing 53,031 pounds. There were 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160. It took 20 minutes for the wheel to make two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation, for which the ticket holder paid 50 cents.
Fifty cents was a lot of dosh back then, kids. Here are a couple of pictures of the Original Ferris Wheel:
I'll bet it was one of those rides where a gentleman caller would take his intended to give her an excuse to scream and clutch at him. (Apologies for the acute hetero-normativity in that statement, but we're talking about the late 1800's here.)
From this angle, you can really see how Ferris wheel-building is related to suspension bridge-building. For a second, one might confuse this for a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
When I visited London last year, I wanted to go up in the huge "London Eye" Ferris wheel, but sadly the person I was with gave off very intense "Do Not Want" vibes, so I didn't insist. ::is sad::
Not quite a Ferris wheel, but it's such a lovely image I thought I'd put it up anyway. It's a print that I'd very much like to buy on Etsy, but cannot afford to until I get a job. It's called "Play Alone".
*I know it sounds stupid, but cut the man a break! It was literally his first day on the job of Intergalactic Explorer. Besides, it totally worked.