- Some inventions that debuted at World's Fairs have now become part of our everyday lives.
- Color televisions, touchscreens, and the telephone all made their debuts at World's Fairs.
- Landmarks like the Space Needle, the Eiffel Tower, and the first Ferris wheel all made their introductions at these expos.
- Cherry Coke and the ice cream cone were also invented for the fairs.
- Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.
Throughout the years, countries have hosted World's Fairs to showcase their greatest achievements. Looking back, some of these achievements have failed, while others have gone on to become part of our every day lives.
From cherry Coke to the telephone, these are some of the greatest inventions created for the world expos.
The telephone was first introduced at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia.
Alexander Graham Bell first introduced his invention of the telephone in 1876 at the Philadelphia World's Fair. When the invention was demonstrated, Brazil's Emperor Dom Pedro famously said, "My God, it talks!"
The Eiffel Tower was introduced at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.
When Paris hosted the World's Fair in 1889, the city had over 100 artists submit designs for a monument that would be built in the center of Paris and act as the entrance to the fair. Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel's firm won the bid and built the Eiffel Tower. At the time, the structure reached 1,000 feet, making it the tallest structure in the world.
The Eiffel Tower was originally meant to be a temporary landmark for the World's Fair, but it still stands today as a popular tourist attraction.
At the Chicago 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the Ferris wheel was first introduced.
In 1893, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. was tasked with creating a landmark that could rival the Eiffel Tower, which wowed fairgoers at the last World's Fair. To do so, he created a 264-foot wheel that held 36 cars and 2,160 people at once. The Ferris wheel became very popular at the fair, costing each person 50 cents to ride.
The dishwasher was also first introduced at the Chicago World's Colombian Exposition in 1893.
Josephine Garis Cochran invented the first dishwasher in 1886 after years of trying to find a way to wash dishes faster than her servants. The dishwasher she invented had compartments for the dishes that were turned by a motorized wheel. She introduced her invention to the world at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. At first, only restaurants and hotels were intrigued by her dishwasher.
It wasn't until the 1950s that Cochran's invention really became popular in American kitchens.
X-rays were first demonstrated at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen stumbled upon x-rays and took one of the first x-ray images of his wife's hand. An x-ray machine debuted at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, showcasing what the new scientific discovery could do. The machine was almost immediately used in hospitals.
Ice cream cones also debuted at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904.
Although the first ice cream cone was invented in Italy, it made its first public American appearance at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. As the story goes, Ernest A. Hamwi was selling small, waffle-like desserts next to an ice cream vendor at the fair. When the ice cream vendor ran out of cups, Hamwi decided to roll up his waffles into a cornucopia shape so that it could hold scoops of ice cream. The result was the first American ice cream cone.
Broadcast television started in 1939 at the New York World's Fair.
April 30, 1939, marks the day broadcast television was born. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the opening address at the New York World's Fair, and NBC broadcast the speech to homes all across the country for the first time. Also at the World's Fair were the first mass-produced TVs, costing $40.
The Space Needle was introduced at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962.
Like the Eiffel Tower and the Chicago Ferries wheel, the Space Needle was created for the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. It took eight months to build the landmark that fit into the expo's 21st century theme. During the fair, 2.65 million people visited the Space Needle, including Elvis Presley, Bobby Kennedy, Neil Armstrong, and Walt Disney. Today, the Space Needle remains one of the top tourist attractions in Seattle.
At New York's 1964 World's Fair, the first color television was introduced to the public.
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) debuted the first color television at the New York World's Fair in 1964. Inside the RCA pavilion, fairgoers were able to see themselves on the screen in color. Two hundred other television sets broadcast celebrity interviews and shows in color as well.
The first video calling machine also debuted at New York's 1964 World's Fair.
Although Skype and FaceTime are recent inventions, the idea of video calling dates back to the '60s. In 1964, Bell Labs introduced the Picturephone, which allowed callers to see the person they were speaking to on the phone via video screens. Fairgoers had the chance to step into individual booths and video chat with people across the country at Disneyland.
The Ford Mustang also first appeared at the 1964 World's Fair.
The famous Ford Mustang made its debut on April 17, 1964, at the World's Fair in New York. At the same time, the car became available in car dealerships across the country, with almost 22,000 Mustangs sold immediately. The car became famous for its long hoods and shorter trunks. The Ford Mustang quickly became a cultural phenomenon, gracing the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines.
The first IMAX film premiered at the 1970 World's Fair in Osaka.
Three men, Graeme Ferguson, Robert Kerr, and Roman Kroitor, invented IMAX movies, which use bigger screens than normal movie theaters. They premiered the first IMAX movie, "Tiger Child," in 1970 in Osaka, Japan, at the World's Fair.
The world's first touch screen was introduced at the Knoxville World's Fair.
In 1982, Dr. Samuel Hurst created a transparent screen that would react and change as people pressed their fingers against it. His touchscreen debuted at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennesse. The touchscreen is now used on most phones throughout the world.
But the real show stopper at the 1982 Knoxville World's Fair was the debut of cherry Coke.
In 1982, Coca Cola came to the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, armed with new flavors for their famous soda. The most popular flavor among fairgoers was cherry. In response, the company released cherry Coke nationwide by 1985.
The first hydrogen-powered car was introduced in 2001 at the Hannover World's Fair.
In 2001, BMW debuted the first hydrogen car at the World's Fair in Germany. The car became known as the 750 hL.
"We will be the first automobile manufacturer in the world to offer series production hydrogen cars," Dr. Burkhard Göschel, development director of the BMW Group, said at the time.
- Read more:
- 7 unsuccessful World's Fair inventions that predicted future technology
- The most important invention from every state
- Japanese inventors made a drone umbrella that can keep you dry without having to hold it