TheFerriswheelisnamedafterGeorgeWashingtonGaleFerris,Jr.,graduateofRensselaerPolytechnicInstituteandaPittsburgh,Pennsylvania,bridge-builder.Hebeganhiscareerintherailroadindustryandthenpursuedaninterestinbridgebuilding.FerrisunderstoodthegrowingneedforstructuralsteelandfoundedG.W.G.Ferris&Co.inPittsburgh,afirmthattestedandinspectedmetalsforrailroadsandbridgebuilders.

　　FerrisdesignedandbuilttheChicagoWheel[1][2]forthe1893World'sColumbianExpositioninChicago,Illinois.Thewheelwasintendedasarivaltothe324-metre(1,060ft)EiffelTower,thecenterpieceofthe1889ParisExposition.ItwasthelargestattractionattheColumbianExposition,withaheightof80metres(260ft),andwaspoweredbytwosteamengines.Theaxle,asingle700.000-tonsolidhammeredsteelforging,wasforty-fivefeetlongandthirty-twoinchesindiameter.[3]Therewere36cars,accommodating40peopleeach,givingatotalcapacityof1,440.Ittook190minutesforthewheeltomaketworevolutions—thefirsttomakesixstopstoallowpassengerstoexitandenter;the2nd,asinglenon-stoprevolution—andforthat,theticketholderpaid50cents.WhentheExpositionended,thewheelwasmovedtothenorthside,nexttoanexclusiveneighborhood.WilliamD.BoycefiledanunsuccessfulCircuitCourtactionagainsttheownersofthewheel,tohaveitmoved.ItwasthenusedattheSt.Louis1904World'sFairandeventuallydestroyedbycontrolleddemolitionusingdynamiteonMay11,1906.[4]

　　TheWienerRiesenradisasurvivingexampleofnineteenthcenturyFerriswheels.Erectedin1897inthePraterparkintheLeopoldstadtdistrictofVienna,Austria,ithasaheightof64.75metres(212.4ft).[5]Followingthedemolitionofthe100-metre(330ft)GrandeRouedeParisin1920,[6]theRiesenradwastheworld'stallestextantFerriswheeluntiltheconstructionofthe85-metre(280ft)TechnocosmosforExpo'85inTsukuba,Ibaraki,Japan.

　　以上内容摘自维基百科全书