Anyone looking at the picture above would say it's a Ferris Wheel, right? How many of you would call it a Somers Wheel? I wouldn't, until I read an article by Rick Grenda in the Facebook group About South Jersey.
It seems the original wheel, called a Roundabout and then an Observation Wheel, was erected by William Somers in 1891 in Atlantic City. In 1892, George Ferris saw the wheel on the boardwalk and decided to build one a year later for the Chicago World's Fair, garnering himself fame as the inventor of the idea.
Not very sporting, eh?
Lots more info and neat little details included in the original article linked below.
#atlanticcity #ferriswheel
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