50 Fun Facts About Chicago World's Fair 1893

The 1893 fair marked the 400th anniversary of what?

The centrepiece pool in Jackson Park represented the voyage itself.

What was the fair's official name?

The others were the Philadelphia 1876, Buffalo 1901 and St. Louis 1904 fairs.

What nickname did the fairgrounds earn from their gleaming façades?

Critics sniffed that the neoclassical buildings were just "decorated sheds".

The fair's Ferris wheel was designed to rival which structure from the 1889 Paris fair?

At 264 feet it was the tallest attraction in Chicago, though far short of the 1,063-foot tower.

Where in Chicago was the fair held?

The swampy site was returned to parkland afterwards in far better shape than before.

The fair aimed to show Chicago had recovered from a great fire in which year?

The fair was also a jobs windfall during a serious national recession.

Who was the fair's director of works, in charge of its architecture?

He later drew up the 1909 Plan of Chicago, commissioned after the fair's success.

Which electrical system won the contract to light the fair?

The win was a decisive blow in the so-called war of the currents.

Financiers from which rival offered $15m if Congress gave them the fair?

J. P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt and William Waldorf Astor were among the backers.

Denied a spot, where did Buffalo Bill stage his Wild West show?

He kept all the revenue, which the fair's developers later saw as a costly mistake.

Who wrote the 2003 bestseller pairing the fair's architect with killer H. H. Holmes?

The book also chronicles how much of the fair was still unfinished on opening day.

The fair's Palace of Fine Arts reopened in 1933 as which institution?

It was completely rebuilt in permanent materials before reopening.

Which chewing gum is listed among products that debuted at the fair?

Quaker Oats, Shredded Wheat and Pabst Blue Ribbon are on the same list.

Which landscape architect laid out the fairgrounds?

The lagoon he shaped still laps the steps of the old Palace of Fine Arts.

Roughly how many people attended the fair over its six-month run?

Chicago Day alone drew 751,026, then a world record for an outdoor event.

How tall was the original Ferris wheel?

Its 36 cars could each carry 40 people.

The Ferris wheel was finally moved to which later world's fair?

It was demolished in 1906; its 70-ton axle was reportedly found buried nearby in 2007.

Which designer made his reputation with a chapel built for the fair?

The chapel was sold several times and since 1999 has sat in the Morse Museum in Florida.

Which chocolate maker bought German machinery he saw at the fair to launch his company?

The equipment came from exhibitor J. M. Lehmann.

The fair is commemorated by one of the stars on what?

Its debt was soon paid off with a single $1.5 million cheque.

Which Marvel series set an episode titled "1893" at the fair?

Loki and Mobius go there hunting Ravonna Renslayer and meet Victor Timely.

The dancer Little Egypt performed in which Midway attraction?

Her "hootchy-kootchy" tune, improvised by Sol Bloom, became the stock snake-charmer melody.

Which historian lectured at the fair on the closing of the American frontier?

His Frontier Thesis was delivered near Buffalo Bill's show, which embodied the very frontier he was mourning.

Which Hindu monk gave the "Sisters and Brothers of America" speech at the fair?

He spoke at the Parliament of the World's Religions, the first formal East-West interfaith gathering.

Whose visit to the fair inspired the "alabaster cities" line in America the Beautiful?

The Wellesley English teacher visited in early July 1893.

Which famous deaf-blind author toured the fair with Alexander Graham Bell in 1893?

She described the visit in her autobiography The Story of My Life.

What patriotic recitation was first performed at the fair by massed schoolchildren?

The children were lined up in military fashion for the performance.

Which ragtime pianist from Texarkana became widely known for playing at the fair?

Sissieretta Jones, the "Black Patti", and violinist Joseph Douglass also performed.

Whose football team, the Maroons, were the original "Monsters of the Midway"?

The campus was being built beside the Midway Plaisance as the fair was closing.

Which young music promoter developed the fair's Midway amusement area?

He later spent decades in Congress; the word "midway" entered American English through the fair.

Muybridge's Zoopraxographical Hall at the fair is called the first what?

He projected moving pictures to a paying public using his zoopraxiscope.

Which Chicago mayor was assassinated two days before the fair closed?

Closing ceremonies were cancelled in favour of a public memorial service.

Until 1920, the Palace of Fine Arts housed which institution?

It is now the Field Museum of Natural History, which has since moved.

The World's Congress Building, built downtown in Grant Park, has housed what since 1893?

Its construction cost was shared with the museum, which moved in after the fair closed in late 1893.

Norway's exhibit, the Viking, was a replica of which archaeological find?

Captain Magnus Andersen and 12 men sailed it; it now sits in Geneva, Illinois.

Who designed the fair's Woman's Building?

Its library held 7,000 books, every one written by a woman.

Which firm designed the polychrome Transportation Building?

Louis Sullivan later claimed the fair's classicism set American architecture back forty years.

Burnham's remark "hire anyone, even white rabbits" gave a nickname to which group?

Lorado Taft recruited them from the Art Institute to finish the buildings' sculptural details on time.

Which composer conducted a gala "Bohemian Day" concert at the fair in August 1893?

His programme included his own Symphony No. 8 and selections from the Slavonic Dances.

Frederick Douglass served as the fair delegate for which nation?

From the Haitian pavilion he and Ida B. Wells distributed a pamphlet protesting the exclusion of African Americans.

How many nations participated in the fair?

It was the first world's fair to have national pavilions.

Which Chicago banker's last-minute fundraising persuaded Congress to pick Chicago?

He raised several million dollars in 24 hours, topping New York's final offer.

On which House ballot did Chicago finally win a majority to host the fair?

Chicago took 157 votes to New York's 107.

How many people attended on Chicago Day, October 9, 1893?

It stood as a world record for outdoor event attendance.

By how much per lamp did Westinghouse underbid Edison's company for the lighting job?

Barred from using Edison's sealed bulb, Westinghouse rushed out a ground-glass "stopper" lamp instead.

The Maine State Building was moved to which resort town after the fair?

The Ricker family used it as a library and art gallery; it made the National Register in 1974.

What nickname was given to Krupp's giant 42 cm coastal gun displayed at the fair?

It was later seen as a forerunner of the Dicke Bertha howitzers.

Who designed the vast Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building?

Were it standing today it would rank third in volume among the world's largest buildings.

The fair's offices sat in which structure, the world's first all-steel-framed skyscraper?

The offices sat on its upper floors on Adams Street.

Louisiana's pavilion gave each visitor a seedling of which tree?

Descendant trees now flourish far from their native range, including in West Virginia.