Wheel Of Fortune Night  Sky  Ferris  Wheel

Ferris wheels as Americans have come to know them were made popular by an American bridge builder by the name of George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.  when he built a 264 foot tall rotating wheel as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After the Fair, despite having found favor among Chicago residents who quickly dubbed it the Chicago Wheel, it was dismantled and later re-erected at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

The world's tallest Ferris wheel at present is the 550 feet tall High Roller located in Las Vegas Nevada. Several others are in the planning stages or soon to be completed including the Dubai Eye at 689 feet tall scheduled for spring 2015.

Early versions of the giant wheel can be traced to several areas around the world including Italy, Romania, Turkey and Siberia. Early versions were made of only wood timbers and wood pegs but later combined wood and metal. Some were nothing more than experiments in disaster when either the support rings or chains securing the "cages" broke due to poor craftsmanship or being overloaded with occupants. 

The first recorded giant wheel in the U.S. was built by Antonio Manguino in 1848 at his start-up fair in Walton, Georgia.

In 1892 three giant Roundabout wheels were erected by William Somers, one in Asbury Park, N.J, one in Atlantic city, N.J. and the third at Coney Island, NY. In 1893, Somers was granted a patent for his "Roundabout Wheel". After George Washington Gale Ferris rode Somer's Roundabout at Coney Island, he was so enthralled by it and being a bridge builder himself, he built the one for the Chicago World's Fair which was the tallest at the time. Somers filed lawsuit against Ferris but was unsuccessful since the parts and pieces for the "Ferris" wheel were different than for Somer's "Roundabout" wheel.

Built at the Irvine Spectrum Center in southern California, this 28-car 108-foot tall Giant Wheel shown here in the night sky, was crafted and fabricated in Italy. It is just one of several attractions at this shopping center which also includes a carousel fabricated in San Francisco. The Spectrum Center itself was modeled after the famous Alhambra fortress and palace in Granda Spain. The photo was taken with a Nikon D800, 16mm lens set to F/20 and exposed for 2.5 seconds at ISO 800.