The story of the Ferris wheel, first invented for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, is a prime example of human ingenuity in urban environments, which happened to be the theme of our most recent photo contest. Congrats to contest winner Chris Fabregas, who captured this shot of human ingenuity in action on the Santa Monica Pier in California. Santa Monica debuted its Ferris wheel here in 1996 and then adapted it two years later to make it the world’s first solar-powered Ferris wheel, using clean energy for the ride that propelled about 800 passengers an hour. In 2014 it was replaced with a newer version that sports 174,000 LED lights, providing for glittering nighttime scenes just like this.
Ingenuity in action on the Santa Monica Pier
Today in History
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Flower of Life symbol drawn in snow
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Mount Segla, Senja Island, Norway
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Necropolis of Dargavs
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Golden larches and Prusik Peak, the Enchantments, Washington
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Playa del Silencio, Spain
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Classical music takes center stage
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World Meerkat Day
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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Castelmezzano, Italy
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Honoring our veterans
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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An unlikely friendship in the wild
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The Unfinished Obelisk near Aswan, Egypt
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National Bird Day
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Nothing plain about it
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Dog days of summer
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Indigo bunting
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Behold the blood moon
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Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
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Groovy!
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The eloquence of elephants
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Endangered Species Day
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What a twist
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Women s History Month
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Brown bears, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska
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Guild houses of Grand-Place, Brussels, Belgium
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Satla marshland in Bangladesh
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Tintern Abbey, Wales
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Mandarin duck, Richmond Park, London, England
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A theatrical dream