Invention Timeline – George Washington Gale Ferris, American Engineer; Conceived the Idea of the “Ferris Wheel”
b. February 4, 1859 and d. November 22, 1896
American engineer. He worked as a civil engineer in West Virginia and Kentucky. He conceived the idea of building the gigantic revolving wheel known by his name, which was a conspicuous figure at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893.
I’ll build it so, that if the blast
Around it whistle loud and long,
The tempest when its rage has pass’d
Shall leave its columns doubly strong.
I’ll build it so, that travelers by
Shall view it with admiring eye,
For its commodiousness and grace:
Up from the ground-straight to the sky-
A view of earth, from God’s dwelling plav=ce.
—Adapted from The Building of the House: Mackay
The largest pyramid, Ghizeh, is 461 feet high; the Sphinx, near to it, 100 feet; the Colossus of Rhodes was 106 feet; the Ferris Wheel, 264 feet; the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Exposition, 984 feet; the Washington Monument, 555 feet in height. The last was designed by Robert Mills and built by Lieut, Colonel T. L. Casey. The highest building in New York, the Park Row Syndicate, is 382 feet high.
1871, June—The Tay Bridge was begun in Scotland; May 31, 1878, it was opened; length, 10,610 feet; consisted of 85 spans, some 90 feet above water level; cost £350,000; about 20 lives lost during its construction.
1889, March 31—Eiffel Tower in the Champ de Mars, Paris, was completed. 984 feet high; 7,000 tons iron used; cost over $1,000,000.
