World's Columbian Exposition Facts for Kids

The World's Columbian Exposition

The World's Columbian Exposition (the official shortened name for the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition, also known as The Chicago World's Fair) was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492.

Chicago won the honor of hosting the fair and defeated New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St. Louis of hosting the fair.

The fair was an influential social and cultural event. At the fair many inventors such as Thomas Edison, Milton S. Hershey, Nikola Tesla, George Ferris, and Marshall Field were there. Many other famous people were there too such as President Grover Cleveland, Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull, Scott Joplin, Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr., and Daniel Burnham.

The exposition was where many famous inventions were first presented and many modern items such as the Ferris wheel, Quaker Oats, Hershey's, the Frontier thesis was presented, and the United States Mint, in the United States of America, offered its first commemorative coins.

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Advertisement for the Exposition, depicting a portrait of Christopher Columbus
Final vote in the United States House of Representatives on location of the 1893 World's Fair
Aerial view of the exposition at Jackson Park in a print by F.A. Brockhaus
An exhibit hall interior
Stereoscopic image of the Great Krupp Building
The Great Wharf, Moving Sidewalk
Apart from official nation displays, non-white cultures were largely excluded from the main park and were instead found on the Midway.
The "Great White City"
Painting of the Agricultural Building
Golden Arch at Louis Sullivan's Transportation Building
Ticket for Chicago Day
Electricity was used to decorate the buildings with incandescent lights, illuminate fountains, and power three huge spotlights.
Westinghouses' World's Fair presentation explaining Tesla's AC induction motors and high frequency experiments
Bird's Eye View, 1893
Souvenir Map, 1893
Woman's Building Lemaire poster
Mammoth and Giant Octopus, display at the Columbian World's Fair, 1893
Electric kitchen
The original Ferris Wheel
Idaho Building
John Bull on display at the exposition.
White City
Pinta, Santa María, and Niña replicas from Spain.
The Viking, a replica of the Gokstad ship.
After the fair, the White City on fire.
The Administration Building and Grand Court during the October 9, 1893, commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of the Chicago Fire.
The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, seen from the southwest.
Horticultural Building, with Illinois Building in the background.
A view toward the Peristyle from Machinery Hall.
Midway Plaisance
Frederick MacMonnies' Columbian Fountain.
"Canal of Venice" during Chicago World's Fair 1893

World's Columbian Exposition facts for kids

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See also