The October 5, 2025, episode of Backstory with Larry Potash on WGN-TV featured a segment on “The Viking Ship That Took the World by Storm.” The feature story profiles the replica Viking ship that sailed from Norway to Chicago to be displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair. This treasured relic from the Columbian Exposition [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
One of Chicagoland’s scariest haunted house attractions invites brave guests to a frightening Fair. 13th Floor Haunted House describes their season attraction “Nocturn 1893”: On the final night of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the lights begin to fade… and something far more sinister takes the stage. You arrive amid the celebration, unaware that [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair encountered several models of notable buildings. A miniature U.S. Treasury building constructed from half-dollar Columbian souvenir coins caught the attention of those who passed through the rotunda of the Administration Building. Lever Brothers displayed an impressive model of Windsor Castle in the British section of the Manufactures and [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
An Iowa man visited the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and purchased quite a souvenir collection: 200 Columbian Half Dollar coins, two Isabella Quarters, and several souvenir medals. The hoard of Columbian Exposition collectibles recently hit the market, as described by Coin Week’s article “Man Attends World’s Fair 130 Years Ago and Leaves an [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
A new word-transformation game is taking puzzlers to new heights of excitement. Raddle, created by Sandy Weisz of Chicago’s puzzle design studio the Mystery League, ran a series of Chicago-themed games last week. A most memorable and mammoth attraction of the 1893 World’s Fair made it into the September 13 game, which featured a [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
THE IOWA BUILDING.—The building of the State of Iowa occupied a very attractive place in the Exposition grounds. It was situated in the extreme northeastern corner of the Fair grounds; one of its fronts overlooking Lake Michigan. It had the additional advantage that it was composed partly of the old Jackson Park Pavilion, a [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Buildings from the 1893 World’s Fair have been reconstructed in Jackson Park. Sort of. A view of "Traces" looking north from the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, a campus once home to the State Buildings of the 1893 World's Fair. For the past decade, the Chicago| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The Architectural Influence of the 1893 World’s Fair on “Wicked”| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
“Inside Jeopardy Live on Tour” brought Ken Jennings and friends to the Windy City on Friday, September 12. Jeopardy! fans gathered in the historic Chicago Theater for a live taping of the “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast, hosted by Michael Davies and Sarah Foss. Special guest appearances by champion Juveria Zaheer and Celebrity Jeopardy! champion W. Kamau [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The editor of the Chicago Record offered this advice for seeing the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, enormous as it was. Seeing the Fair Nine out of ten people who find themselves for the first time within the World’s Fair gates are aware of a sensation of hopeless helplessness before the baffling array of buildings [...]| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The Bathurst Library will host a talk on Australian participation in the 1893 World’s Fair on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Local artist and freelance archivist Kim Bagot-Hiller will discuss “When Bathurst Shone on the World Stage” from 2:30-3:30 PM. The Colony of New South Wales sent people and exhibits on a| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
“A realized picture one will never forget”: Windsor Castle in Miniature at the Columbian Exposition| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Apr. 12, 2025: “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago” (Glen Ellyn, IL)| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Sculptures In addition to the more than 800 sculptural works exhibited in galleries of the Palace of Fine Arts and those that ornamented the great exhibit halls, sculptures also filled the grounds of the White City. Nearly all of the outdoor sculptures were| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
“The Columbian Exposition had a decidedly reformist influence,” writes World’s Fair historian Reid Badger, “and there is little question that it was at least an indirect factor in the development of the ‘City Beautiful’ movement.” Among the great urban planning pioneers influenced by the 1893 World’s Fair was Charles Mulford Robinson (1869–1917).| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
SUMMARY: The lion sculptures by Edward Kemeys that stand in front of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) are not cast from sculptures at the 1893 World’s Fair. This misinformation, which appears to have originated in the late 1980s, now permeates descriptions of these iconic Chicago mascots in institutional, popular, and scholarly sources. Eight pairs| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
THE LAGOON IN FRONT OF THE ART PALACE.—It was not a very big sheet of water which lay just south of the Art Palace in the Exposition grounds. It was not imposing in dimensions, though it was by no means small, and it was not| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
A display also called the “Pillar of Fire” in the Electricity Building| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Jackson Park Prints to Support Block Club Chicago| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
179 Days at the World’s Columbian Exposition| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Living Souvenirs of the World’s Fair of 1893| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
A visitor to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition sent a letter home to Augusta, Maine, reporting about many sights on the fairgrounds and in Chicago. Author “E. H. J.” concludes with these thoughts: “Our notebooks are full, our pocketbooks are empty, and we're going home to rest and think. We are tired. Not by| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The Swedish American Museum in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood is running a special exhibit on “Swedes at the Fair” from August 8 through November 2, 2025. The exhibit highlights Swedes and Swedish-American participation in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition with displays about the Swedish| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The inaugural issue of Jewell N. Halligan’s monthly periodical The Illustrated World’s Fair listed Robert Ingersoll as a contributor. Known as “the Great Agnostic” and dubbed “Pope Bob” by the Chicago press, Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a famous lawyer and one of the foremost freethinkers of the era. “The editor of this| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The U.S. Government Building at the 1893 World’s Fair housed exhibits from the official host of the Exposition. A display from one federal agency was described as “the grotesque mingling with the horrible, and tender sentiment jostling with the ghastly evidences of tragedies.” [Image from Harper’s Weekly| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
German Punch Bowl from the 1893 World’s Fair Joins Art Institute of Chicago Collection| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
A monumental porcelain punch bowl made for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago has returned to this city. On July 11, 2025, the Art Institute of Chicago reopened the Eloise W. Martin Galleries, where 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century European designs are displayed. Among the new| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The World’s Columbian Exposition has been employed as a theme for several ballet works, and in the spring of 2025 a winter guard treated audiences to a trip to the Chicago fair. Elevate of Indianapolis, Indiana, performed a show titled “In All FAIRness,” inspired| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
AN ESKIMO BOY.--Not the least interesting objects in the village of the Eskimos, and certainly the most attractive, were the youngsters who rolled about like the seals in the waters of their own cold country. One of the young gentlemen of the group became an| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Chicago Public Radio’s Curious City, the long-running series on WBEZ that answers questions from listeners about the city and region, has a episode that does a deep dive into one of the most revered visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair. Hindus around the world learn about Swami Vivekananda’s visit to Chicago and his public| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Although wheelmen (with a few notable exceptions) were forbidden from cycling through the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Fair, bicyclists today have much to discover as they ride through Jackson Park. The history of the great exposition is hiding in plain sight, thanks to a new cycling| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Columbian Exposition collectors can rejoice over a new reference book that provides invaluable information about commemorative coins, medals, badges and ribbons, and other related souvenirs from the 1893 World’s Fair. The handsome volume Referencing Columbiana compiled by Steve A. Starlust belongs on any Columbian Exposition bookshelf. The 305-page| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Opening Day of the World's Fair. May 1, 1893| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Without the flag, there would be no Flag Day. And without Betsy Ross, there would be no flag (or so the story goes). Among abundance of eye-catching exhibits inside the Agricultural Building of the 1893 World’s Fair stood a unusual sculpture of the purported mother of the American flag.| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Apr. 26, 2025: Help clean up Jackson Park (Chicago)| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Dyche’s Panorama of North American Mammals at the 1893 World’s Fair| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Lewis Lindsay Dyche’s “Exhibit of Large North American Mammals” in the Kansas State Building| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Few full exhibits from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition remained intact after the close of the fair. A notable exception is the “Exhibit of Large North American Mammals” that was on display inside the Kansas State Building. The University of Kansas Natural History Museum is home to the display, which is the| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
While countless attractions at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition could make a reasonable claim to be the “most interesting” exhibit on the fairgrounds, the article reprinted below awards that honor to the “Exhibit of Large North American Mammals” in the Kansas State Building. Professor Lewis Lindsay Dyche’s unique panorama is one of the few| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
A treasured educational display from the 1893 World’s Fair will be restored, thanks to a $2 million gift. Dyche’s Panorama, formally called the “Exhibit of Large North American Mammals,” was originally displayed inside the Kansas State Building at the Columbian Exposition before finding a permanent home| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Preservation Chicago released its “Most Endangered” list for 2025 (on March 4, Chicago's 188th birthday). Included with six threatened buildings is a bridge that allowed tens of millions of visitors to cross the Lagoon during the 1893 World’s Fair. Designed by renowned architectural firm of Burnham & Root, the bridge was built in| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
The White Oak Library District Crest Hill Branch is hosting a talk on “Fashion, Ferris Wheels, and Film: Dressing Women for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” on March 24, 2025, at 7 pm. Kelli Marshall of Chicago Movie Tours will discuss how women navigated| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
“There is nothing quite so free on earth as living in a large city,” claimed a Wisconsin man visiting Chicago in 1893. A reporter from Philadelphia told of the man’s adventure as he journeyed from downtown to the Midway Plaisance of the World’s Fair and into one of its (at the time) notorious theaters.| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Greeting ex-President Benjamin Harrison when he visited the Indiana State Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago [Image from the Chicago Inter Ocean September 28, 1893.] Thirteen men who served as President of the United States lived at the time of the 1893 World’s| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
James O’Shaughnessy, Jr. regularly reported on the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago for the St. Joseph Herald. In a letter dated June 24, he describes riding on the great Ferris Wheel, which had opened on the Midway Plaisance only three days earlier. Bumping into people from his Missouri hometown while on the Columbian Exposition| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
Mr. Bryan and Mr. King could not have imaged the infernal tragedy about to unfold at the Columbian Exposition on the afternoon of Monday, July 10, 1893. Thomas Barbour Bryan was a leading figure in the effort to bring the World’s Columbian Exposition to Chicago and had been its First Vice-President. William Fletcher King served| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
In 1896, L. Frank Baum and two other writers imagined a World's Fair in Chicago in the year 2000. Did their futurist predictions come true?| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
In 1896, L. Frank Baum and two other writers imagined a World's Fair in Chicago in the year 2000. Did their futurist predictions come true?| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
America’s favorite futurist fustigated the Fair. “The underlying motive of the whole exhibition, under a sham pretense of patriotism is business, advertising with a view to individual money-making,” wrote Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Bellamy’s 1888 novel Looking Backward: 2000–1887 was among the most popular and influential| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
YouTuber Kaz Rowe has posted an engaging video “Ranking the Weirdest Things at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” in which she explores twenty-five quirky, surprising, or just-plain-strange attractions of the Columbian Exposition and ranks them on a scale from “slumgullion” to “some pumpkins.” From the Ferris| Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair
