NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Century of Progress

The Century of Progress International Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago, Illinois from 1933-1934 to celebrate Chicago's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation. Its motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms" and its architectural symbol was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge perpendicular to the shore on which one could ride from one end of the fair to the other. Image File history File links Century of Progress poster File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Century of Progress poster File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Worlds Fair is any of various large expositions held since the mid-19th century. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area - City 234. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area Ranked 25th - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 kmÂ²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 390 miles (629 km) - % water 4. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Panorama, showing Sky Ride to the left The Sky Ride was a Transporter bridge designed by Robinson & Steinman and built for the Century of Progress Exposition (or Worlds Fair) in Chicago Illinois (located near what became Meigs Field) in 1933. ... The Newport Transporter Bridge A transporter bridge (also ferry bridge or aerial transfer bridge) is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. ...

History

A Century of Progress was organized as an Illinois not-for-profit corporation in January, 1928 for the purpose of planning and hosting a World's Fair in Chicago in 1933. The site selected was the land and water areas under the jurisdiction of South Park commissioners lying along and adjacent to the shore of Lake Michigan, between 12th and 39th streets. Held on a 427 acre (1.7 km²) plot of land in Burnham Park, much of which was landfill, and bordering Lake Michigan, the Century of Progress opened on May 27, 1933. The fair was opened when the lights were turned on with energy from the rays of the star Arcturus. The star was chosen as its light had started its journey at about the time of the previous Chicago world's fair -- the World's Columbian Exposition -- in 1893. The rays were focused on photo-electric cells in a series of astronomical observatories and then transformed into electrical energy which was transmitted to Chicago. Burnham Park is a park in Chicago, Illinois. ... Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one in the group located entirely within the United States. ... May 27 is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Arcturus (Î± Boo / Î± BoÃ¶tis / Alpha BoÃ¶tis) (IPA: ) is the brightest star in the constellation BoÃ¶tes, and the third brightest star in the night sky, with a visual magnitude of âˆ’0. ... One-third scale replica of Daniel Chester Frenchs Republic, which stood in the great basin at the exposition, Chicago, 2004 The Worlds Columbian Exposition (also called The Chicago Worlds Fair), a Worlds Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher...

Success

Originally, the fair was scheduled only to run until November 12, but it was so successful that it was opened again to run from May 26 to October 31 the following year. The fair was financed through sales of memberships, which allowed purchases of a certain number of admissions once the park was open. This was done so the fair would not have to be subsidized by the government. More than $800,000 was raised in this manner as the country came out of the Great Depression. A $10 million bond was issued on October 28, 1929, the day before the stock market crashed. By the time the fair closed in 1933, half of these notes had been retired, with all retired by the time the fair closed in 1934. In its two years, it had attracted 48,769,227 visitors. According to James Truslow Adams's Dictionary of American History, during the 170 days beginning May 27, 1933, there were 22,565,859 paid admissions; during the 163 days beginning May 26, 1934, there were 16,486,377; a total of 39,052,236. For the first time in American history, an international fair had paid for itself. Image File history File links Aerial photograph (likely enhanced) of the Centennial of Progress worlds fair with the Graf Zeppelin in the skies overhead. ... Image File history File links Aerial photograph (likely enhanced) of the Centennial of Progress worlds fair with the Graf Zeppelin in the skies overhead. ... Graf Zeppelin, filled with abundant hydrogen, circumnavigated the globe. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (147th in leap years). ... October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 61 days remaining. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... James Truslow Adams (1878 - 1949) was a U.S. historian. ...

Exhibits

The fair buildings were multi-colored, to create a "Rainbow City" as opposed to the "White City" of the World's Columbian Exposition. The buildings generally had a linear Art Deco design to them in contrast to the Grecian aspect of the earlier fair. One of the more famous aspects of the fair were the performances of fan dancer Sally Rand. Other popular exhibits were the various auto manufacturers, the Midway, and a recreation of important scenes from Chicago's history. The fair also contained exhibits that would seem shocking to contemporary audiences, including offensive portrayals of African-Americans, a "Midget City" complete with "sixty Lilliputians", and an exhibition of incubators containing real babies. One-third scale replica of Daniel Chester Frenchs Republic, which stood in the great basin at the exposition, Chicago, 2004 The Worlds Columbian Exposition (also called The Chicago Worlds Fair), a Worlds Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher... Asheville City Hall. ... Sally Rand (January 2, 1904 â€“ August 31, 1979) was born Harriet Helen Gould Beck in Hickory County, Missouri. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Lilliput and Blefuscu are two island nations that appear in the 1726 novel Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. ... The word incubation (from Latin incubare, to lie upon - cf. ...

The "dream cars" which American automobile manufacturers exhibited at the fair included Cadillac's introduction of its V-16 limousine; Nash's exhibit had a variation on the vertical (i.e., paternoster) parking garage - all the cars were new Nashes; Lincoln presented its rear-engined "concept car" precursor to the Lincoln Zephyr, which went on the market in 1936 with a front engine; Pierce-Arrow presented its modernistic Silver Arrow for which it used the byline "Suddenly it's 1940!" But it was Packard which won the best of show. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 538 pixelsFull resolution (1700 Ã— 1144 pixel, file size: 404 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Fragment of the Mural for the 1933 Chicago International fair Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 538 pixelsFull resolution (1700 Ã— 1144 pixel, file size: 404 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Fragment of the Mural for the 1933 Chicago International fair Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the... Master Santiago Martinez Delgado. ... Cadillac is a brand of luxury automobile, part of the General Motors corporation, produced and mostly sold in the USA; outside of North America, they have been less successful. ... Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors Corporation Nash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the United States from 1916 to 1938. ... A paternoster at the University of Vienna, NIG (Neues InstitutsgebÃ¤ude), late 1950s, still in operation A paternoster or paternoster lift is an elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two persons) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building... Lincoln is an American luxury automobile brand, operated under the Ford Motor Company. ... Lincoln Zephyr Series HB 1937, USA The Lincoln Zephyr is a brand name of automobile from the Lincoln automobile division of the Ford Motor Company. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1919 Pierce-Arrow advertisement The Pierce-Arrow was a Buffalo, New York (United States) based manufacturing company from 1901 to 1938. ... Silver Arrow – 1939 GP Silver Arrows was the name given to Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix cars between 1934 and 1939, as well as to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One cars in 1954/55. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Packard red hexagon symbol made its debut in 1905, with the color red added in 1913 Packard was a United States based brand of luxury automobile built by the Packard Motors Company of Detroit,Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. ...

One of the highlights of the 1933 World's Fair was the arrival of the German airship Graf Zeppelin on October 26, 1933. After circling Lake Michigan near the exposition for two hours, Commander Hugo Eckener landed the 776-foot airship at the nearby Curtis-Wright Airport in Glenview. It remained on the ground for twenty-five minutes (from 1 to 1:25 p.m.) [1] then took off ahead of an approaching weather front bound for Akron, Ohio. For some Chicagoans, however, the appearance of the Graf Zeppelin over their fair city was not a welcome sight, as the airship had become a prominent reminder of the ascendancy of Adolf Hitler to power earlier that same year. This triggered dissension in the days following its visit, particularly within the city's large German-American population. Image File history File links Century of Progress U.S. Airmail stamp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Century of Progress U.S. Airmail stamp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Graf Zeppelin, filled with abundant hydrogen, circumnavigated the globe. ... Hugo Eckener (May 10, 1868 - August 14, 1954) was the old man of the Zeppelin airship company. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

One interesting and enduring exhibit was the 1933 Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition that demonstrated modern home convenience and creative practical new building materials and techniques with twelve model homes sponsored by several corporations affiliated with home decor and construction. Flier from the Good Housekeeping Stran-Steel Home tour The Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition was part of the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair. ...

The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at Comiskey Park in conjunction with the fair. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the Midsummer Classic is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the manager (the managers from the previous years... This article is about the original Comiskey Park. ...

In May 1934 the Union Pacific Railroad exhibited its first streamlined train, the M-10000, and the Burlington Route its famous Zephyr, which made a record-breaking dawn-to-dusk run from Denver, Colorado to Chicago in 13 hour and 5 minutes. To cap its record-breaking speed run, the Zephyr arrived dramatically on-stage at the fair's "Wings of a Century" transportation pageant. The two trains launched an era of industrial streamlining. The Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) is the largest railroad in the United States. ... Categories: Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Defunct companies | Defunct railroads | Colorado railroads | Illinois railroads | Iowa railroads | Missouri railroads | Montana railroads | Nebraska railroads | Wisconsin railroads | Wyoming railroads ...

Both trains later went into successful revenue service, the Union Pacific's as the City of Salina, and the Burlington Zephyr as the first Pioneer Zephyr. The Zephyr is now on exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

The site of the fair is now home to Northerly Island Park (since the closing of Meigs Field) and McCormick Place. A column from the ruins of a Roman temple in Ostia given to Chicago by the Italian government to honor General Italo Balbo's 1933 trans-Atlantic flight still stands, although now by itself, not too far from Soldier Field. The city added a third red star to its flag in 1933 to commemorate the Exposition. (The fourth star of Chicago's flag was added years later in 1939.) Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport (IATA airport code CGX) was a single strip airport built on Northerly Island, the landfill originally created to house the 1933-1934 Century of Progress in Chicago, Illinois. ... McCormick Place is an enormous exposition complex located in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Temple of Hercules Victor, near the Teatro di Marcello in Rome (a Greek-style Roman temple) // Pagan history and architecture Originally in Roman paganism, a templum was not (necessarily) a cultic building but any ritually marked observation site for natural phenomena believed to allow predictions, such as the flight... Ostia Antica was the harbor of ancient Rome and perhaps its first colonia. ... Air Marshal Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (June 6, 1896 - June 28, 1940) was an Italian aviator, blackshirt leader and possible successor of Mussolini. ... Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, and is currently home to the NFLs Chicago Bears. ... Municipal Flag of the City of Chicago The municipal flag of Chicago consists of two blue horizontal stripes on a field of white, each stripe one-sixth the height of the full flag, and placed slightly less than one-sixth of the way from the top or bottom, respectively. ...

Encyclopedia > Century of Progress

Contents

History

Success

Exhibits

See also

External links