peterbaker:

The Chicago Tribune has posted a photo slideshow from the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, the event for which Nikola Tesla beat out Thomas Edison’s bid to bring electricity to the fair, which began Tesla’s alternating current (AC) dominance over Edison’s direct current (DC).

Also, the event brought the first Ferris Wheel, the debut of Cracker Jack’s and Juicy Fruit, America’s first hamburger, and one of America’s first serial killers; HH Holmes (read the Devil in the White City, it’s awesome).

This is great stuff. It’s amazing to see the way they built things back then. I can’t imagine a modern Expo having nearly that level of panache and class. Quite a different time.