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126-737: The World's Columbian Exposition , also known as the Chicago World's Fair , was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus 's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, held in Jackson Park , was a large water pool representing the voyage that Columbus took to the New World. Chicago won
252-540: A universal exhibition or an expo , is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a period of time, typically between three and six months. The term "world's fair" is commonly used in the United States, while the French term, Exposition universelle ("universal exhibition" )
378-722: A church for his second wife's congregation, the Church of the Strangers. In addition, he donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Church on Staten Island of 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres (3 hectares) for a cemetery (the Moravian Cemetery ). He chose to be buried there. Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, at his residence, No. 10 Washington Place, after being confined to his rooms for about eight months. The immediate cause of his death
504-555: A cousin from Mobile, Alabama , with the name — unusual for a woman — of Frank Armstrong Crawford . Vanderbilt's second wife convinced him to give $ 1 million ($ 22,890,000 in 2023 dollars ), the largest charitable gift in American history to that date, to Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire , the husband of her cousin, Amelia Townsend, to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, named in his honor. He also paid $ 50,000 for
630-622: A ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt to captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. Although Vanderbilt kept his own businesses running, he became Gibbons's business manager. When Vanderbilt entered his new position, Gibbons was fighting against a steamboat monopoly in New York waters, which had been granted by the New York State Legislature to the politically influential patrician Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton , who had designed
756-531: A former Major League Baseball team, was named for the 1967 fair). From World Expo 88 in Brisbane onwards, countries started to use expositions as a platform to improve their national image through their pavilions. Finland, Japan, Canada, France, and Spain are cases in point. A major study by Tjaco Walvis called "Expo 2000 Hanover in Numbers" showed that improving national image was the main goal for 73% of
882-637: A geographical block to share space (i.e. Plaza of the Americas at Seville '92). In the 21st century the BIE has moved to sanction World Expos every five years; following the numerous expos of the 1980s and 1990s, some see this as a means to cut down potential expenditure by participating nations. The move was also seen by some as an attempt to avoid conflicting with the Summer Olympics . World Expos are restricted to every five years, with Specialized Expos in
1008-628: A grievous loss when George Washington Vanderbilt II, his youngest and favorite son, and heir apparent , a graduate of the United States Military Academy , fell ill and died without ever seeing combat. Though Vanderbilt had relinquished his presidency of the Stonington Railroad during the California gold rush, he took an interest in several railroads during the 1850s, serving on the boards of directors of
1134-408: A key advantage: it was the only steam railroad to enter the center of Manhattan, running down 4th Avenue (later Park Avenue ) to a station on 26th Street, where it connected with a horse-drawn streetcar line. From Manhattan it ran up to Chatham Four Corners , New York, where it had a connection to the railroads running east and west. Vanderbilt brought his eldest son, Billy, in as vice-president of
1260-532: A landmark legal case— Gibbons v. Ogden —to the United States Supreme Court to overturn the monopoly. Working for Gibbons, Vanderbilt learned to operate a large and complicated business. He moved with his family to New Brunswick, New Jersey , a stop on Gibbons' line between New York and Philadelphia . There his wife Sophia operated a very profitable inn, using the proceeds to feed, clothe and educate their children. Vanderbilt also proved
1386-421: A loop down the length of a lakefront pier to a casino. Although denied a spot at the fair, Buffalo Bill Cody decided to come to Chicago anyway, setting up his Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show just outside the edge of the exposition. Nearby, historian Frederick Jackson Turner gave academic lectures reflecting on the end of the frontier which Buffalo Bill represented. The electrotachyscope of Ottomar Anschütz
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#17327908718391512-429: A pavilion of artillery, which apparently had cost one million dollars to stage, including a coastal gun of 42 cm in bore (16.54 inches) and a length of 33 calibres (45.93 feet, 14 meters). A breech-loaded gun, it weighed 120.46 long tons (122.4 metric tons). According to the company's marketing: "It carried a charge projectile weighing from 2,200 to 2,500 pounds which, when driven by 900 pounds of brown powder ,
1638-444: A precise theme—such as "Green Desert, Better Environment" ( International Horticultural Expo 2023 Doha Qatar ), "Growing Green Cities" ( Floriade 2022 ), or "Building a Beautiful Home Featuring Harmonious Coexistence between Man and Nature" ( Expo 2019 ). The purpose of these exhibitions is to foster cooperation and the sharing of knowledge and solutions between countries, horticultural producers and agricultural industries by addressing
1764-605: A quick study in legal matters, representing Gibbons in meetings with lawyers. He also went to Washington, D.C., to hire Daniel Webster to argue the case before the Supreme Court. Vanderbilt appealed his own case against the monopoly to the Supreme Court, which was next on the docket after Gibbons v. Ogden . The Court never heard Vanderbilt's case, because on March 2, 1824, it ruled in Gibbons' favor, saying that states had no power to interfere with interstate commerce. The case
1890-511: A rustic log construction, was a popular favorite, visited by an estimated 18 million people. The building's design and interior furnishings were a major precursor of the Arts and Crafts movement . Among the other attractions at the fair, several products that are well-known today were introduced. These products included Juicy Fruit gum, Cream of Wheat , Cracker Jacks , Shredded Wheat cereal, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, among many others. There
2016-626: A successful exposition and that only Chicago was fit to fill these exposition requirements. The location of the fair was decided through several rounds of voting by the United States House of Representatives. The first ballot showed Chicago with a large lead over New York, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., but short of a majority. Chicago broke the 154-vote majority threshold on the eighth ballot, receiving 157 votes to New York's 107. The exposition corporation and national exposition commission settled on Jackson Park and an area around it as
2142-588: A typical universal exposition: national pavilions and exhibits concerning technology and/or the future, along with more typical amusement park rides. Meanwhile, several of the 1964 attractions that were relocated to Disneyland have been duplicated at the Walt Disney World Resort . Occasionally other mementos of the fairs remain. In the New York City Subway system, signs directing people to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park remain from
2268-605: A very popular exhibit. Eadweard Muybridge gave a series of lectures on the Science of Animal Locomotion in the Zoopraxographical Hall, built specially for that purpose on Midway Plaisance. He used his zoopraxiscope to show his moving pictures to a paying public. The hall was the first commercial movie theater. The "Street in Cairo" included the popular dancer known as Little Egypt . She introduced America to
2394-586: A way to bring together societies fragmented along class lines. The first American attempt at a world's fair in Philadelphia in 1876 drew crowds, but was a financial failure. Nonetheless, ideas about distinguishing the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landing started in the late 1880s. Civic leaders in St. Louis, New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago expressed interest in hosting a fair to generate profits, boost real estate values, and promote their cities. Congress
2520-645: A working model Indian school, organized by the Office of Indian Affairs, that housed delegations of Native American students and their teachers from schools around the country for weeks at a time. The John Bull locomotive was displayed. It was only 62 years old, having been built in 1831. It was the first locomotive acquisition by the Smithsonian Institution . The locomotive ran under its own power from Washington, DC , to Chicago to participate, and returned to Washington under its own power again when
2646-424: A year and was ultimately won outright by Billy, who increased the bequests to his siblings and paid their legal fees. One of Vanderbilt's great-great-granddaughters, Gloria Vanderbilt , was a renowned fashion designer, and her youngest son, Anderson Cooper , is a television news anchor. Through Billy's daughter Emily Thorn Vanderbilt , another descendant is actor Timothy Olyphant . Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt
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#17327908718392772-417: Is still considered a landmark ruling. The protection of competitive interstate commerce is considered the basis for much of the prosperity which the United States has generated. After Thomas Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for Gibbons' son William until 1829. Though he had always run his own businesses on the side, he now worked entirely for himself. Step by step, he started lines between New York and
2898-613: Is used in most of Europe and Asia; other terms include World Expo or Specialised Expo , with the word expo used for various types of exhibitions since at least 1958. Since the adoption of the 1928 Convention Relating to International Exhibitions, the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions has served as an international sanctioning body for international exhibitions; four types of international exhibition are organised under its auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos (regulated by
3024-716: The Niña (real name Santa Clara ), the Pinta , and the Santa María . These were intended to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas. The ships were constructed in Spain and then sailed to America for the exposition. The celebration of Columbus was an intergovernmental project, coordinated by American special envoy William Eleroy Curtis , the Queen Regent of Spain , and Pope Leo XIII . The ships were
3150-1111: The Vanderbilt , to the Union Navy . Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles refused it, thinking its operation and maintenance too expensive for what he expected to be a short war. Vanderbilt had little choice but to lease it to the War Department, at prices set by ship brokers. When the Confederate ironclad Virginia (popularly known in the North as the Merrimack ) wrought havoc with the Union blockading squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia , Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln called on Vanderbilt for help. This time he succeeded in donating
3276-605: The 1964 New York World's Fair (which was held over into 1965) were moved to Disneyland after the closing of the Fair. Many of the rides, including " It's a Small World ", and " Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln ", as well as the building that housed the Carousel of Progress are still in operation. The concept of a permanent world's fair came to fruition with the Disney Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort , near Orlando, Florida . Epcot has many characteristics of
3402-524: The Baháʼí Faith in North America; it was not taken seriously by European scholars until the 1960s. Along the banks of the lake, patrons on the way to the casino were taken on a moving walkway designed by architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee , the first of its kind open to the public, called The Great Wharf, Moving Sidewalk , it allowed people to walk along or ride in seats. Horticultural exhibits at
3528-923: The CTA Green Line . Forty-six countries had pavilions at the exposition. Norway participated by sending the Viking , a replica of the Gokstad ship . It was built in Norway and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean by 12 men, led by Captain Magnus Andersen. In 1919, this ship was moved to Lincoln Park . It was relocated in 1996 to Good Templar Park in Geneva, Illinois , where it awaits renovation. Thirty-four U.S. states also had their own pavilions. The work of noted feminist author Kate McPhelim Cleary
3654-733: The Eiffel Tower , built for the Exposition Universelle (1889) . Although it is now the most recognized symbol of its host city Paris , there were contemporary critics opposed to its construction, and demands for it to be dismantled after the fair's conclusion. Other structures that remain from these fairs: Some world's fair sites became (or reverted to) parks incorporating some of the expo elements, such as: Some pavilions have been transported overseas intact: The Brussels Expo '58 relocated many pavilions within Belgium :
3780-1070: The Episcopal Church , Cornelius Vanderbilt remained a member of the Moravian Church to his death. Along with other members of the Vanderbilt family, he helped erect a local Moravian parish church in his city. On December 19, 1813, at age 19 Vanderbilt married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson. They moved into a boarding house on Broad Street in Manhattan. They had 13 children together: Phebe in 1814, Ethelinda in 1817, Eliza in 1819, William in 1821, Emily in 1823, Sophia in 1825, Maria in 1827, Frances in 1828, Cornelius Jeremiah in 1830, George in 1832 (who died in 1836), Mary in 1834, Catherine in 1836, and another son named George in 1839. In addition to running his ferry, Vanderbilt bought his brother-in-law John De Forest's schooner Charlotte and traded in food and merchandise in partnership with his father and others. But on November 24, 1817,
3906-751: The Erie Railway , the Central Railroad of New Jersey , the Hartford and New Haven , and the New York and Harlem (popularly known as the Harlem). In 1863, Vanderbilt took control of the Harlem in a famous stockmarket corner , and was elected its president. He later explained that he wanted to show that he could take this railroad, which was generally considered worthless, and make it valuable. It had
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4032-727: The International Association of Horticultural Producers ), and the Milan Triennial . Astana , Kazakhstan , held the most recent Specialised Expo in 2017 while Dubai , United Arab Emirates , hosted World Expo 2020 (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ) and Doha , Qatar hosted Horticultural Expo in 2023 . In 1791, Prague organized the first World's Fair in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic ). The first industrial exhibition
4158-562: The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad , one of the first giant corporations in United States history. In 1869, Vanderbilt directed the Harlem to begin construction of the Grand Central Depot on 42nd Street in Manhattan. It was finished in 1871, and served as his lines' terminus in New York. He sank the tracks on 4th Avenue in a cut that later became a tunnel, and 4th Avenue became Park Avenue. The depot
4284-593: The Stonington . By cutting fares on competing lines, Vanderbilt drove down the Stonington stock price, and took over the presidency of the company in 1847. It was the first of the many railroads he would head. During these years, Vanderbilt also operated many other businesses. He bought large amounts of real estate in Manhattan and Staten Island, and took over the Staten Island Ferry in 1838. It
4410-558: The Swiftsure. However, according to the first account of his life, published in 1853, the periauger belonged to his father and the younger Vanderbilt received half the profit. He began his business by ferrying freight and passengers on a ferry between Staten Island and Manhattan . Such was his energy and eagerness in his trade that other captains nearby took to calling him "The Commodore" in jest—a nickname that stuck with him all his life. While many Vanderbilt family members had joined
4536-667: The Vanderbilt to the Union Navy, equipping it with a ram and staffing it with handpicked officers. It helped bottle up the Virginia, after which Vanderbilt converted it into a cruiser to hunt for the Confederate commerce raider Alabama , captained by Raphael Semmes . For donating the Vanderbilt, he was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal . Vanderbilt also paid to outfit a major expedition to New Orleans . He suffered
4662-461: The telephone were first presented during this era. This era set the basic character of the world fair. The 1939–1940 New York World's Fair , and those that followed, took a different approach, one less focused on technology and aimed more at cultural themes and social progress. For instance, the theme of the 1939 fair was "Building the World of Tomorrow"; at the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair , it
4788-664: The "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations" was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London , United Kingdom. The Great Exhibition , as it is often called, was an idea of Prince Albert , Queen Victoria 's husband, and is usually considered to be the first international exhibition of manufactured products. It influenced the development of several aspects of society, including art-and-design education, international trade and relations, and tourism. This expo
4914-482: The "spirits"—during a point in the session when said spiritualist would fall into a "trance" in the Commodore's presence—claimed William would be the most trustworthy to inherit the estate and business and that his other children actually hated him and were just waiting for him to die. A "spirit", during this session, came in the form of William's deceased mother, Sophia. Not wanting to risk further public humiliation of
5040-521: The 1964–1965 event. In the Montreal Metro subway at least one tile artwork of its theme, "Man and His World", remains. Also, a seemingly endless supply of souvenir items from fair visits can be found, and in the United States, at least, often turn up at garage or estate sales. Many fairs and expos produced postage stamps and commemorative coins . Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "
5166-634: The Beautiful " were inspired by the White City. The White City is largely credited for ushering in the City Beautiful movement and planting the seeds of modern city planning. The highly integrated design of the landscapes, promenades, and structures provided a vision of what is possible when planners, landscape architects, and architects work together on a comprehensive design scheme. World%27s fair A world's fair , also known as
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5292-718: The Columbian Exposition is highlighted by the use of rueda de Chicago ("Chicago wheel") in many Latin American countries such as Costa Rica and Chile in reference to the Ferris wheel . One attendee, George C. Tilyou , later credited the sights he saw on the Chicago midway for inspiring him to create America's first major amusement park, Steeplechase Park in Coney Island , New York. The fair included life-size reproductions of Christopher Columbus' three ships,
5418-427: The Commodore ", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inland water trade and invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry, effectively transforming the geography of the United States. As one of the richest Americans in history and wealthiest figures overall, Vanderbilt
5544-495: The Dutch economy. It also identified several key success factors for world-exposition pavilions in general. At present there are two types of international exhibition: World Expos (formally known as International Registered Exhibitions) and Specialised Expos (formally known as International Recognised Exhibitions). World Expos, previously known as universal expositions, are the biggest category events. At World Expos, participants generally build their own pavilions. They are therefore
5670-453: The Harlem. Billy had had a nervous breakdown early in life, and his father had sent him to a farm on Staten Island. But he proved himself a good businessman, and eventually became the head of the Staten Island Railway . Though the Commodore had once scorned Billy, he was impressed by his son's success. Eventually he promoted him to operational manager of all his railroad lines. In 1864, the Commodore sold his last ships, in order to concentrate on
5796-440: The Horticultural Hall included cacti and orchids as well as other plants in a greenhouse . Most of the buildings of the fair were designed in the neoclassical architecture style. The area at the Court of Honor was known as The White City . Façades were made not of stone, but of a mixture of plaster, cement, and jute fiber called staff , which was painted white, giving the buildings their "gleam". Architecture critics derided
5922-418: The Louisiana Pavilion were each given a seedling of a cypress tree. This resulted in the spread of cypress trees to areas where they were not native. Cypress trees from those seedlings can be found in many areas of West Virginia, where they flourish in the climate. The Illinois was a detailed, full-scale mockup of an Indiana -class battleship , constructed as a naval exhibit. The German firm Krupp had
6048-404: The Midway). The university's football team, the Maroons, were the original " Monsters of the Midway ." The exposition is mentioned in the university's alma mater : "The City White hath fled the earth, / But where the azure waters lie, / A nobler city hath its birth, / The City Gray that ne'er shall die." The World's Columbian Exposition was the first world's fair with an area for amusements that
6174-451: The New York Central Railroad. To his younger surviving son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, whom he regarded as a wastrel, he left the income from a $ 200,000 trust fund. (Although his daughters and Cornelius received bequests much smaller than those of their brother William, these made them very wealthy by the standards of 1877 and were not subject to inheritance tax .) Vanderbilt's biographer T. J. Stiles says, "He vastly improved and expanded
6300-520: The United States helped finance, coordinate, and manage the Fair, including Chicago shoe company owner Charles H. Schwab, Chicago railroad and manufacturing magnate John Whitfield Bunn , and Connecticut banking, insurance, and iron products magnate Milo Barnum Richardson , among many others. The fair was planned in the early 1890s during the Gilded Age of rapid industrial growth, immigration, and class tension. World's fairs, such as London's 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition , had been successful in Europe as
6426-405: The United States. Walker was forced to give up, and was driven out of the country by a U.S. Navy officer. But the new Nicaraguan government refused to allow Vanderbilt to restart the transit business, so he started a line by way of Panama, eventually developing a monopoly on the California steamship business. When the Civil War began in 1861, Vanderbilt attempted to donate his largest steamship,
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#17327908718396552-434: The World's Columbian Exposition, the answer is Slavery." Ten thousand copies of the pamphlet were circulated in the White City from the Haitian Embassy (where Douglass had been selected as its national representative), and the activists received responses from the delegations of England, Germany, France, Russia, and India. The exhibition did include a limited number of exhibits put on by African Americans, including exhibits by
6678-425: The World's Religions , which ran from September 11 to September 27, marked the first formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions from around the world. According to Eric J. Sharpe , Tomoko Masuzawa , and others, the event was considered radical at the time, since it allowed non-Christian faiths to speak on their own behalf. For example, it is recognized as the first public mention of
6804-491: The ashes of the Great Chicago Fire , which had destroyed much of the city in 1871. On October 9, 1893, the day designated as Chicago Day, the fair set a world record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 751,026 people. The debt for the fair was soon paid off with a check for $ 1.5 million (equivalent to $ 50.9 million in 2023). Chicago has commemorated the fair with one of the stars on its municipal flag . Many prominent civic, professional, and commercial leaders from around
6930-443: The canal, but he did start a steamship line to Nicaragua, and founded the Accessory Transit Company to carry passengers across Nicaragua by steamboat on the lake and river, with a 12-mile (19-kilometer) carriage road between the Pacific port of San Juan del Sur and Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua . In 1852, a dispute with Joseph L. White , a partner in the Accessory Transit Company, led to a business battle in which Vanderbilt forced
7056-399: The city in shock, as popular mayor Carter Harrison Sr. was assassinated by Patrick Eugene Prendergast two days before the fair's closing. Closing ceremonies were canceled in favor of a public memorial service. Jackson Park was returned to its status as a public park, in much better shape than its original swampy form. The lagoon was reshaped to give it a more natural appearance, except for
7182-412: The city where there was "not a house to buy and not a rock to blast" and that it would be located so that "the artisan and the farmer and the shopkeeper and the man of humble means" would be able to easily access the fair. Bryan continued to say that the fair was of "vital interest" to the West, and that the West wanted the location to be Chicago. The city spokesmen would continue to stress the essentials of
7308-478: The company just before these developments were announced. When he tried to convince the U.S. and English governments to help restore the company to its rights and property, they refused. So he negotiated with Costa Rica , which (along with the other Central American republics) had declared war on Walker. Vanderbilt sent a man to Costa Rica who led a raid that captured the steamboats on the San Juan River, cutting Walker off from his reinforcements from insurgent groups in
7434-562: The company to buy his ships for an inflated price. In early 1853, he took his family on a grand tour of Europe in his steamship yacht, the North Star. While he was away, White conspired with Charles Morgan, Vanderbilt's erstwhile ally, to betray him, and deny him money he was owed by the Accessory Transit Company. When Vanderbilt returned from Europe, he retaliated by developing a rival steamship line to California, cutting prices until he forced Morgan and White to pay him off. He then turned to transatlantic steamship lines, running in opposition to
7560-413: The countries participating in Expo 2000 . Pavilions became a kind of advertising campaign, and the Expo served as a vehicle for "nation branding". According to branding expert Wally Olins , Spain used Expo '92 and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona in the same year to underscore its new position as a modern and democratic country and to show itself as a prominent member of the European Union and
7686-450: The direction of Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the fair. Renowned local architect Henry Ives Cobb designed several buildings for the exposition. The director of the American Academy in Rome, Francis Davis Millet , directed the painted mural decorations. Indeed, it was a coming-of-age for the arts and architecture of the " American Renaissance ", and it showcased the burgeoning neoclassical and Beaux-Arts styles. The fair ended with
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#17327908718397812-405: The exposition closed. In 1981 it was the oldest surviving operable steam locomotive in the world when it ran under its own power again. A Baldwin 2-4-2 locomotive was showcased at the exposition, and subsequently the 2-4-2 type was known as the Columbia . An original frog switch and portion of the superstructure of the famous 1826 Granite Railway in Massachusetts could be viewed. This
7938-436: The exposition. The exposition covered 690 acres (2.8 km), featuring nearly 200 new but temporary buildings of predominantly neoclassical architecture, canals and lagoons , and people and cultures from 46 countries. More than 27 million people attended the exposition during its six-month run. Its scale and grandeur far exceeded the other world's fairs , and it became a symbol of emerging American exceptionalism , much in
8064-436: The fair site being referred to as the "White City". The Exposition's offices set up shop in the upper floors of the Rand McNally Building on Adams Street, the world's first all-steel-framed skyscraper. Davis' team organized the exhibits with the help of G. Brown Goode of the Smithsonian . The Midway was inspired by the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition , which included ethnological "villages". Civil rights leaders protested
8190-410: The fair site. Daniel H. Burnham was selected as director of works, and George R. Davis as director-general. Burnham emphasized architecture and sculpture as central to the fair and assembled the period's top talent to design the buildings and grounds including Frederick Law Olmsted for the grounds. The temporary buildings were designed in an ornate neoclassical style and painted white, resulting in
8316-478: The fair's official director of color-design, William Pretyman. Pretyman had resigned following a dispute with Burnham. After experimenting, Millet settled on a mix of oil and white lead whitewash that could be applied using compressed air spray painting to the buildings, taking considerably less time than traditional brush painting. Joseph Binks, maintenance supervisor at Chicago's Marshall Field's Wholesale Store , who had been using this method to apply whitewash to
8442-717: The family name in court, William finally settled with his siblings. He gave Corneel an extra $ 200,000 in cash and a trust fund of $ 400,000. He gave Mary and Ethelinda the same settlement. Still, all told, this was comparatively very little from the—by far—largest estate in the world at that time. William's eldest son, Cornelius Vanderbilt II , received $ 5 million in the will, while his three younger sons— William Kissam Vanderbilt , Frederick William Vanderbilt , and George Washington Vanderbilt II —received $ 2 million apiece. Vanderbilt willed amounts ranging from $ 250,000 to $ 500,000 to each of his daughters. His wife received $ 500,000, their New York City home, and 2,000 shares of common stock in
8568-434: The first railroads in the United States were built from Boston to Long Island Sound, to connect with steamboats that ran to New York. By the end of the decade, Vanderbilt dominated the steamboat business on the Sound, and began to take over management of the connecting railroads. In the 1840s, he launched a campaign to take over the most attractive of these lines, the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad , popularly known as
8694-502: The global community. At Expo 2000 Hanover, countries created their own architectural pavilions, investing, on average, €12 million each. Given these costs, governments are sometimes hesitant to participate, because the benefits may not justify the costs. However, while the effects are difficult to measure, an independent study for the Dutch pavilion at Expo 2000 estimated that the pavilion (which cost around €35 million) generated around €350 million of potential revenues for
8820-441: The gold returning to the East Coast, went by steamship to Panama , where mule trains and canoes provided transportation across the isthmus. (The Panama Railroad was soon built to provide a faster crossing.) Vanderbilt proposed a canal across Nicaragua , which was closer to the United States and was spanned most of the way across by Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River . In the end, he could not attract enough investment to build
8946-421: The government. Edmund Randolph, a close friend of Walker, coerced the Accessory Transit's San Francisco agent, Cornelius K. Garrison , into opposing Vanderbilt. Randolph convinced Walker to annul the charter of the Accessory Transit Company, and give the transit rights and company steamboats to him; Randolph sold these to Garrison. Garrison brought Charles Morgan in New York into the plan. Vanderbilt took control of
9072-638: The heavily subsidized Collins Line , headed by Edward K. Collins. Vanderbilt eventually drove the Collins Line into extinction. During the 1850s, Vanderbilt also bought control of a major shipyard and the Allaire Iron Works , a leading manufacturer of marine steam engines , in Manhattan. In November 1855, Vanderbilt began to buy control of Accessory Transit once again. That same year, the American military adventurer , William Walker , led an expedition to Nicaragua and briefly took control of
9198-522: The help of Chicago Art Institute instructor Lorado Taft to help complete them. Taft's efforts included employing a group of talented women sculptors from the Institute known as "the White Rabbits " to finish some of the buildings, getting their name from Burnham's comment "Hire anyone, even white rabbits if they'll do the work." The words "Thine alabaster cities gleam" from the song " America
9324-655: The host committee and participants because the architectural fees are lower and they only have to customize pavilion space provided free of charge from the Organiser, usually with the prefabricated structure already completed. Countries then have the option of "adding" their own colours, design etc. to the outside of the prefabricated structure and filling in the inside with their own content. Horticultural Expos (formally known as A1 International Horticultural Exhibitions) are co-regulated by International Association of Horticultural Producers . Like Specialised Expos are organized in
9450-494: The in-between years. Specialized Expos (formally known as International Recognized Exhibitions) are usually united by a precise theme—such as "Future Energy" ( Expo 2017 Astana ), "The Living Ocean and Coast" ( Expo 2012 Yeosu ), or "Leisure in the Age of Technology" ( Brisbane , Expo '88 ). Such themes are more specific than the wider scope of world expositions. Specialized Expos are usually smaller in scale and cheaper to run for
9576-430: The matter of their father's will to court, claiming he was not in his right mind in his old age when he drew up the will; that he had been behaving strangely and was under William's influence as well as that of a corrupt spiritualist in his employ, who'd allegedly been approached and paid off by William to do his bidding, according to eyewitness testimony. Allegedly, William paid the spiritualist (a Mr. Stoddard) to suggest
9702-686: The most extravagant and most expensive expos. Their duration may be between six weeks and six months. Since 1995, the interval between two World Expos has been at least five years. World Expo 2015 was held in Milan, Italy, from 1 May to 31 October 2015. Specialised Expos are smaller in scope and investments and generally shorter in duration; between three weeks and three months. Previously, these Expos were called Special Exhibitions or International Specialized Exhibitions but these terms are no longer used officially. Their total surface area must not exceed 25 hectares (62 acres) and organizers must build pavilions for
9828-490: The name "The People's Line", he used the populist language associated with Democratic president Andrew Jackson to get popular support for his business. At the end of the year, the monopoly paid him a large amount to stop competing, and he switched his operations to Long Island Sound. During the 1830s, textile mills were built in large numbers in New England as the United States developed its manufacturing base. Some of
9954-458: The nation's transportation infrastructure, contributing to a transformation of the very geography of the United States. He embraced new technologies and new forms of business organization, and used them to compete....He helped to create the corporate economy that would define the United States into the 21st century." The Commodore had lived in relative modesty considering his nearly unlimited means, splurging only on race horses. His descendants were
10080-682: The number of shares a company could issue. But Gould bribed the legislature to legalize the new stock. Vanderbilt used the leverage of a lawsuit to recover his losses, but he and Gould became public enemies. Gould never got the better of Vanderbilt in any other important business matter, but he often embarrassed Vanderbilt, who uncharacteristically lashed out at Gould in public. By contrast, Vanderbilt befriended his other foes after their fights ended, including Drew and Cornelius Garrison. Following his wife Sophia's death in 1868, Vanderbilt went to Canada. On August 21, 1869, in London, Ontario , he married
10206-420: The ones who built the Vanderbilt houses that characterize the United States' Gilded Age . According to The Wealthy 100 by Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther, Vanderbilt would be worth $ 143 billion in 2007 United States dollars if his total wealth as a share of the nation's gross domestic product ( GDP ) in 1877 (the year of his death) were taken and applied in that same proportion in 2007. This would make him
10332-472: The paramount issues of healthy lifestyles, green economies, sustainable living, education and innovation. List of official world expositions (Universal and International/Specialised/Horticultural) according to the Bureau International des Expositions . Most of the structures are temporary and are dismantled after the fair closes, except for landmark towers. By far the most famous of these is
10458-496: The participating states, free of rent, charges, taxes and expenses. The largest country pavilions may not exceed 1,000 m ( 1 ⁄ 4 acre). Only one Specialised Expo can be held between two World Expos. An additional two types of international exhibition may be recognized by the BIE: horticultural exhibitions, which are joint BIE and AIPH-sanctioned 'garden' fairs in which participants present gardens and garden pavilions; and
10584-480: The pavilion of Jacques Chocolats moved to the town of Diest to house the new town swimming pool. Another pavilion was relocated to Willebroek and has been used as dance hall Carré ever since. One smaller pavilion still stands on the boulevard towards the Atomium : the restaurant "Salon 58" in the pavilion of Comptoir Tuilier. Many exhibitions and rides created by Walt Disney and his WED Enterprises company for
10710-404: The railroad industry. He was inducted in the "Railway Workers & Builders: North America" category. Statues of Cornelius Vanderbilt can be found at various locations, including Vanderbilt University and Grand Central Terminal. At Vanderbilt University, a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, designed by Giuseppe Moretti in 1897, stands near Kirkland Hall in commemoration of his gift to help found
10836-696: The railroads. Once in charge of the Harlem, Vanderbilt encountered conflicts with connecting lines. In each case, the strife ended in a battle that Vanderbilt won. He bought control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, the New York Central Railroad in 1867, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in 1869. He later bought the Canada Southern as well. In 1870, he consolidated two of his key lines into
10962-470: The refusal to include an African American exhibit. Frederick Douglass , Ida B. Wells , Irvine Garland Penn , and Ferdinand Lee Barnet co-authored a pamphlet entitled "The Reason Why the Colored American is not in the World's Columbian Exposition – The Afro-American's Contribution to Columbian Literature" addressing the issue. Wells and Douglass argued, "when it is asked why we are excluded from
11088-551: The right to host the fair over several competing cities, including New York City , Washington, D.C. , and St. Louis . The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture , the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image. The layout of the Chicago Columbian Exposition was predominantly designed by John Wellborn Root , Daniel Burnham , Frederick Law Olmsted , and Charles B. Atwood . It
11214-543: The same way that the Great Exhibition became a symbol of the Victorian era United Kingdom. Dedication ceremonies for the fair were held on October 21, 1892, but the fairgrounds were not opened to the public until May 1, 1893. The fair continued until October 30, 1893. In addition to recognizing the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the New World, the fair served to show the world that Chicago had risen from
11340-456: The sculptor Edmonia Lewis , a painting exhibit by scientist George Washington Carver , and a statistical exhibit by Joan Imogen Howard . Black individuals were also featured in white exhibits, such as Nancy Green 's portrayal of the character Aunt Jemima for the R. T. Davis Milling Company. The fair opened in May and ran through October 30, 1893. Forty-six nations participated in the fair, which
11466-551: The second-wealthiest person in United States history, after Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937). Another calculation, from 1998, puts him in third place, after Andrew Carnegie . In real terms, however, Vanderbilt's peak wealth of $ 105 million in 1877 is only worth US$ 3 billion (in 2023 dollars). In 1999, Cornelius Vanderbilt was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame , recognizing his significant contributions to
11592-564: The semi-regular Milan Triennial (not always held every third year) art and design exhibition, held in Milan, Italy , with the BIE granting official international exhibition status to 14 editions of the Triennale between 1996 and 2016. World Expos (formally known as International Registered Exhibitions) encompass universal themes that affect the full gamut of human experience, and international and corporate participants are required to adhere to
11718-423: The steamboat. Though both Livingston and Fulton had died by the time Vanderbilt started working for Gibbons, the monopoly was held by Livingston's heirs. They had granted a license to Aaron Ogden to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey. Gibbons launched his steamboat venture because of a personal dispute with Ogden, whom he hoped to drive into bankruptcy. To accomplish this, he undercut prices and also brought
11844-511: The straight-line northern end where it still laps up against the steps on the south side of the Palace of Fine Arts/Museum of Science & Industry building. The Midway Plaisance , a park-like boulevard which extends west from Jackson Park, once formed the southern boundary of the University of Chicago , which was being built as the fair was closing (the university has since developed south of
11970-443: The structures as "decorated sheds.” The buildings were clad in white stucco , which, in comparison to the tenements of Chicago, seemed illuminated. It was also called the White City because of the extensive use of street lights, which made the boulevards and buildings usable at night. In 1892, working under extremely tight deadlines to complete construction, director of works Daniel Burnham appointed Francis Davis Millet to replace
12096-466: The subbasement walls of the store, got the job to paint the Exposition buildings. Claims this was the first use of spray painting may be apocryphal since journals from that time note this form of painting had already been in use in the railroad industry from the early 1880s. Many of the buildings included sculptural details and, to meet the Exposition's opening deadline, chief architect Burnham sought
12222-566: The suggestive version of the belly dance known as the " hootchy-kootchy ," to a tune said to have been improvised by Sol Bloom (and now more commonly associated with snake charmers) which he had composed when his dancers had no music to dance to. Bloom did not copyright the song, putting it immediately in the public domain . Also included was the first moving walkway or travelator, which was designed by architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee . It had two different divisions: one where passengers were seated, and one where riders could stand or walk. It ran in
12348-421: The surrounding region. First he took over Gibbons' ferry to New Jersey, then switched to western Long Island Sound . In 1831, he took over his brother Jacob's line to Peekskill, New York , on the lower Hudson River . That year he faced opposition by a steamboat operated by Daniel Drew , who forced Vanderbilt to buy him out. Impressed, Vanderbilt became a secret partner with Drew for the next thirty years, so that
12474-432: The theme in their representations. Registered expositions are held every 5 years because they are more expensive as they require total design of pavilion buildings from the ground up. As a result, nations compete for the most outstanding or memorable structure—for example Japan, France, Morocco, and Spain at Expo '92 . Sometimes prefabricated structures are used to minimize costs for developing countries, or for countries from
12600-485: The title of the largest privately owned home in the United States, though it is open to the public. The mansion contains 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 square meters) of total floor space and originally sat on 125,000 acres (50,600 hectares) of land. It now sits on 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) due to George's final wishes that 86,000 acres (35,000 ha) be sold to the government at $ 5 per acre ($ 12/ha)—a significantly cut rate and what George had originally paid—in order to form
12726-748: The two men would have an incentive to avoid competing with each other. On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. Also on the train was president John Quincy Adams . In 1834, Vanderbilt competed on the Hudson River against the Hudson River Steamboat Association , a steamboat monopoly between New York City and Albany . Using
12852-489: The university. Additionally, a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt is located on the south side of Grand Central Terminal, facing the Park Avenue road viaduct to the south. The 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -foot-tall (2.6-meter) bronze statue was sculpted by Ernst Plassmann and was originally sited at the Hudson River Railroad depot at St. John's Park before being moved to Grand Central Terminal in 1929. Cornelius Vanderbilt
12978-525: The work-week from seeing it. The exposition was located in Jackson Park and on the Midway Plaisance on 630 acres (2.5 km) in the neighborhoods of South Shore, Jackson Park Highlands, Hyde Park , and Woodlawn . Charles H. Wacker was the director of the fair. The layout of the fairgrounds was created by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Beaux-Arts architecture of the buildings was under
13104-560: The years from 1850 to 1938. In these years, world expositions were largely focused on trade and displayed technological advances and inventions. World expositions were platforms for state-of-the-art science and technology from around the world. The world expositions of 1851 London , 1853 New York , 1862 London , 1876 Philadelphia , Paris 1878 , 1888 Barcelona , 1889 Paris , 1891 Prague , 1893 Chicago , 1897 Brussels , 1900 Paris , 1904 St. Louis , 1915 San Francisco , and 1933–1934 Chicago were notable in this respect. Inventions such as
13230-526: Was replaced by Grand Central Terminal in 1913. In 1868, Vanderbilt fell into a dispute with Daniel Drew, who had become treasurer of the Erie Railway . To get revenge, he tried to corner Erie stock, which led to the so-called Erie War . This brought him into direct conflict with Jay Gould and financier James Fisk Jr. , who had just joined Drew on the Erie board. They defeated the corner by issuing " watered stock " in defiance of state law, which restricted
13356-550: Was "Peace Through Understanding"; at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal, it was "Man and His World". These fairs encouraged effective intercultural communication along with sharing of technological innovation. The 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal was promoted under the name Expo 67 . Event organizers retired the term world's fair in favor of Expo (the Montreal Expos ,
13482-702: Was Chicago banker Lyman Gage , who raised several million additional dollars in a 24-hour period, over and above New York's final offer. Chicago representatives not only fought for the world's fair for monetary reasons, but also for reasons of practicality. In a Senate hearing held in January 1890, representative Thomas Barbour Bryan argued that the most important qualities for a world's fair were "abundant supplies of good air and pure water", "ample space, accommodations and transportation for all exhibits and visitors". He argued that New York had too many obstructions, and Chicago would be able to use large amounts of land around
13608-562: Was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht , Netherlands, who emigrated to New Amsterdam (later New York) as an indentured servant in 1650. The Dutch van der ("of the") was eventually added to Aertson's village name to create " van der Bilt " ("of the Bilt"). This was eventually condensed to Vanderbilt. Anthony Janszoon van Salee was one of Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-great-grandfathers. Cornelius Vanderbilt
13734-511: Was an Anthropology Building at the World's Fair. Nearby, "The Cliff Dwellers" featured a rock and timber structure that was painted to recreate Battle Rock Mountain in Colorado, a stylized recreation of an American Indian cliff dwelling with pottery, weapons, and other relics on display. There was also an Eskimo display. There were also birch bark wigwams of the Penobscot tribe. Nearby was
13860-595: Was born in Staten Island , New York, on May 27, 1794, to Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand. He began working on his father's ferry in New York Harbor as a boy, quitting school at the age of 11. At the age of 16, Vanderbilt decided to start his own ferry service. According to one version of events, he borrowed $ 100 (equivalent to $ 1,900 in 2023) from his mother to purchase a periauger (a shallow draft, two-masted sailing vessel), which he christened
13986-442: Was buried in the family vault in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp on Staten Island. He was later reburied in a tomb in the same cemetery constructed by his son Billy . Three of his daughters and son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt , contested the will on the grounds that their father was of unsound mind and under the influence of his son Billy and spiritualists whom he consulted on a regular basis. The court battle lasted more than
14112-402: Was called on to decide the location. New York financiers J. P. Morgan , Cornelius Vanderbilt , and William Waldorf Astor , among others, pledged $ 15 million to finance the fair if Congress awarded it to New York, while Chicagoans Charles T. Yerkes , Marshall Field , Philip Armour , Gustavus Swift , and Cyrus McCormick, Jr. , offered to finance a Chicago fair. What finally persuaded Congress
14238-544: Was childless when he committed suicide, in 1882, and George Washington Vanderbilt died during the Civil War, before having any children. All of the Vanderbilt multimillionaires descend through the oldest son Billy and his wife. Cornelius' youngest grandson through William, George Washington Vanderbilt II , built the 250-room Biltmore Estate in the mountains of Asheville , North Carolina, as his main residence with part of his inheritance from his grandfather. It still retains
14364-406: Was claimed to be able to penetrate at 2,200 yards a wrought-iron plate three feet thick if placed at right angles." Nicknamed "The Thunderer", the gun had an advertised range of 15 miles. On this occasion John Schofield declared Krupps' guns "the greatest peacemakers in the world". This gun was later seen as a precursor of the company's World War I Dicke Berta howitzers. The 1893 Parliament of
14490-624: Was demonstrated, which used a Geissler tube to project the illusion of moving images . Louis Comfort Tiffany made his reputation with a stunning chapel designed and built for the Exposition. After the Exposition the Tiffany Chapel was sold several times, even going back to Tiffany's estate. It was eventually reconstructed and restored and in 1999 it was installed at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art . Architect Kirtland Cutter 's Idaho Building ,
14616-659: Was exhaustion, brought on by long suffering from a complication of chronic disorders. At the time of his death, aged 82, Vanderbilt had an estimated worth of $ 105 million ($ 3,004,312,500 in 2023 dollars). In his will, he left 95% of his $ 105 million estate to his son William (Billy) and four grandsons through him. This left his only other living son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt , and 9 daughters (Phebe Jane, Ethelinda, Eliza, Emily Almira, Sophia Johnson, Maria Louisa, Frances Lavinia, Mary Alicia, and Catherine Juliette), to receive comparatively little inheritance; far less than even their young nephews. Corneel , Ethelinda and Mary took
14742-565: Was featured during the opening of the Nebraska Day ceremonies at the fair, which included a reading of her poem "Nebraska". Among the state buildings present at the fair were California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas; each was meant to be architecturally representative of the corresponding states. Four United States territories also had pavilions located in one building: Arizona , New Mexico , Oklahoma , and Utah . Visitors to
14868-537: Was in the 1830s when he was first referred to as "commodore", then the highest rank in the United States Navy . A common nickname for important steamboat entrepreneurs, by the end of the 1840s it was applied only to Vanderbilt. When the California gold rush began in 1849, Vanderbilt switched from regional steamboat lines to ocean-going steamships. Many of the migrants to California, and almost all of
14994-744: Was on the occasion of the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia . The exhibition was held in the Clementinum , and celebrated the considerable sophistication of manufacturing methods in the Czech lands during that time period. France had a tradition of national exhibitions , which culminated with the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 held in Paris . This fair was followed by other national exhibitions in Europe. In 1851,
15120-506: Was strictly separated from the exhibition halls. This area, developed by a young music promoter, Sol Bloom , concentrated on Midway Plaisance and introduced the term "midway" to American English to describe the area of a carnival or fair where sideshows are located. It included carnival rides, among them the original Ferris Wheel , built by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. This wheel was 264 feet (80 m) high and had 36 cars, each of which could accommodate 40 people. The importance of
15246-732: Was the first commercial railroad in the United States to evolve into a common carrier without an intervening closure. The railway brought granite stones from a rock quarry in Quincy, Massachusetts , so that the Bunker Hill Monument could be erected in Boston. The frog switch is now on public view in East Milton Square, Massachusetts , on the original right-of-way of the Granite Railway. Transportation by rail
15372-537: Was the first world's fair to have national pavilions. They constructed exhibits and pavilions and named national "delegates"; for example, Haiti selected Frederick Douglass to be its delegate. The Exposition drew over 27 million visitors. The fair was originally meant to be closed on Sundays, but the Chicago Woman's Club petitioned that it stay open. The club felt that if the exposition was closed on Sunday, it would restrict those who could not take off work during
15498-529: Was the major mode of transportation. A 26-track train station was built at the southwest corner of the fair. While trains from around the country would unload there, there was a local train to shuttle tourists from the Chicago Grand Central Station to the fair. The newly built Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad also served passengers from Congress Terminal to the fairgrounds at Jackson Park . The line exists today as part of
15624-607: Was the patriarch of the wealthy and influential Vanderbilt family . He provided the initial gift to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee . According to historian H. Roger Grant : "Contemporaries, too, often hated or feared Vanderbilt or at least considered him an unmannered brute. While Vanderbilt could be a rascal, combative and cunning, he was much more a builder than a wrecker [...] being honorable, shrewd, and hard-working." Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-grandfather, Jan Aertson or Aertszoon ("Aert's son"),
15750-418: Was the precedent for the many international exhibitions, later called World Expos , that have continued to be held to the present time. The character of world fairs, or expositions, has evolved since the first one in 1851. Three eras can be distinguished: the era of industrialization, the era of cultural exchange, and the era of nation branding. The first era, the era of "industrialization", roughly covered
15876-535: Was the prototype of what Burnham and his colleagues thought a city should be. It was designed to follow Beaux-Arts principles of design, namely neoclassical architecture principles based on symmetry, balance, and splendor. The color of the material generally used to cover the buildings' façades, white staff , gave the fairgrounds its nickname, the White City. Many prominent architects designed its 14 "great buildings". Artists and musicians were featured in exhibits and many also made depictions and works of art inspired by
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