A large rotating wheel with passenger compartments around its edge, commonly found at amusement parks and fairs.
Named after George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., who invented the Ferris wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The name became genericized to describe similar amusement rides worldwide.
George Ferris designed his wheel as an engineering marvel to rival Paris's Eiffel Tower—the original was 264 feet tall! Now his last name describes one of the world's most iconic carnival attractions, showing how innovation can literally get your name on an invention.
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