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From the Geographic Archives
Reinventing The Ferris Wheel
A splintery spin on this "pleasure wheel" was a bit of fun
in Elbasan, Albania, in 1924. Such amusements may have originated from
working waterwheels centuries ago; the earliest written description, of
a Bulgarian ride, dates from 1620. American engineer George Ferris, Jr.
, constructed the first modern Ferris wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago in 1983. His 264-foot-high marvel was powered by a thousand-horsepower
engine and supported 36 wooden cars, each holding 60 people. More than
one million visitors paid 50 cents a ride. 
This photograph was published in our February 1931 article about
Albania, "Europe's Newest Kingdom"
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, OCTOBER 1997
Albanian
Journal : The Road to Elbasan (Terra Incognita Series , No 2) by
Edmund
Keeley
List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $11.20
You Save: $2.80
(20%)
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