1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. I've mentioned on the show 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: recently that I've been trying to improve my French on 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: Duelingo and for some languages. Duolingo has these stories where 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: the characters have this conversation in an at least hypothetically 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: real world kind of scenario. And there's this one where 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: two friends Lely and Zuri are having They're having a 9 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: conversation in line to ride a roller coaster, and every 10 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: time Duolingo has shown me this story, I have wound 11 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: up mostly focused on the fact that the French word 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:58,639 Speaker 1: for roller coaster is montagnous or Russian mountains, and so 13 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: every time I'm like, what is the story there? And 14 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: that is how we got to this episode. So during 15 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to be touching a little bit 16 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: on amusement park history more and generally, because there becomes 17 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: a point where these two things are very tightly interconnected. 18 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: But one thing we're not really going to talk about 19 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:23,119 Speaker 1: much is like roller coaster crashes and derailments and other 20 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: similar incidents because there have just been so many with 21 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: so many different causes. It felt sort of like trying 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: to mention all the car crashes in the building of 23 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: the interstate highway system, right. It just it felt like 24 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: a list of carnage that wasn't adding up to some 25 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: sort of greater understanding of anything. So that is not 26 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: really going to be a focus of this. And also, 27 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: I know there are a lot of roller coasterficionados out there, 28 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: and there are folks who have extremely strong opinions on 29 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: specific roller coasters and types of roller coasters and roller 30 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: coaster records and particular designers. So I just want to 31 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: say upfront that this is not in any way an 32 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: exhaustive chronicle of every single thing about roller coasters. If 33 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: we did not mention your favorite thing. This is more 34 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: of like the trajectory of how these rides evolved over 35 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: the last centuries. That could be an entire podcast just 36 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: called coasting. And I maybe it is somewhere Montagna rous 37 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: got their start, as the name suggests, in Russia. Specifically 38 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: in Russia in the seventeenth century, as a winter pastime, 39 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: people built wooden ramps and covered them with water, and 40 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: that water then froze into a slick surface, and then 41 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: riders would climb stairs or a ladder to the top 42 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: of this frozen ramp, get into some kind of vehicle 43 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: like a sled or a hollowed out log, or even 44 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: an ice block with a straw seat, and slide down. 45 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: Often at night, water would be applied to the ramp 46 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: so that it could freeze back over into a new 47 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: and totally smooth, fresh surface by morning. These frozen hills 48 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: were nicknamed flying mountains. They could be up to six 49 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: hundred feet or one hundred and eighty three meters long, 50 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: and riders reached speeds that were reportedly up to fifty 51 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: miles an hour, which is about eighty kilometers an hour. Often, 52 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: at the end of the ride you would come out 53 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: at the base of a second tower, so you could 54 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: climb up that and just do it all over again. 55 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: The logs or the ice blocks were brought back up 56 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: along a track to one side of the hill, or 57 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: in some cases when people were using more lightweight sleds, 58 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: they would just be carried up the steps by the riders. 59 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: These were really popular public attractions, especially around Saint Petersburg, 60 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: and wealthy people also built smaller versions of them. On 61 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: their estates for their own enjoyment. Two different empresses have 62 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: been noted as having a particular love for the flying mountains, Elizabeth, 63 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: who reigned from seventeen forty one to seventeen sixty two, 64 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: and Katherine the Second also known as Katherine the Great, 65 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: who reigned from seventeen sixty two to seventeen ninety six. 66 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: So super quick Russian history refresher. Catherine the Great did 67 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: not directly follow Elizabeth. Elizabeth's successor was her nephew Peter 68 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,239 Speaker 1: the Third, who ruled as emperor for about six months 69 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: before being overthrown and assassinated. Katherine definitely played a part 70 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: in his overthrow. There is still some debate over her 71 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: role in his death. If you watch the show The Great, 72 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: that is a version not entirely historically accurate, but I 73 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: love it. Yeah. So. Some sources say that Catherine the 74 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: Great was the first person to have one of these 75 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: mountains fitted with grooves that could accommodate carriage wheels so 76 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: that they could be used in the summer. But English 77 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: clergyman John glen King, who was chaplain to Saint Petersburg, 78 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: wrote a letter in seventeen seventy eight in which he 79 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: credited Elizabeth, saying that Elizabeth had a flying mountain built 80 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: at the Imperial Palace at Zarskicello that was usable during 81 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: the summer and the winter. Catherine does seem to have 82 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: built more than one of them as well, including one 83 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: at or Niniba Park in Saint Petersburg. King described the 84 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 1: flying mountain this way, quote, you will observe that there 85 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: are five mounts of unequal heights. The first and highest 86 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: is full thirty feet perpendicular altitude the momentum with which 87 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: they descend. This carries them over the second, which is 88 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: about five or six feet lower, just sufficient to allow 89 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: for the friction and resistance, and so on to the last, 90 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: from which they are conveyed by a gentle descent with 91 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: nearly the same velocity over a piece of water into 92 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: a little island. He went on to say, quote these slides, 93 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: which are about a furlong and a half in length, 94 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: are made of wood that they may be used in 95 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: summer as well as in winter. The processes two or 96 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: four persons fit in a little carriage, and one stands behind. 97 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: For the more there are in it, the greater the 98 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: swiftness with which it goes. That runs on casters and 99 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: in grooves to keep it in its right direction, and 100 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: it descends with a wonderful rapidity. Under the hills is 101 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: a machine worked by horses for drawing the carriages back 102 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: again with the company in them. Such a work as 103 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: this would have been enormous in most countries for the 104 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: labor and expense at cost, as well as the vast 105 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: quantity of wood used in it. There's a little bit 106 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: of conjecture around how the Russian flying mountains made their 107 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: way to France and evolved into Montaigne Rouse. One likely 108 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: scenario is that French soldiers saw them in eighteen twelve 109 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: when Napoleon invaded the Russian Empire, although some of the 110 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: sources used in this episode say the first one in 111 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: France was actually built before that. Most of France really 112 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: did not get cold enough in the winter to maintain 113 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 1: a frozen sliding surface, so like the Russian empresses did 114 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: during the summer, builders in France turned to vehicles that 115 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: could roll down the hills on wheels. They had no 116 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: safety equipment. People just had to hang on. Yeah, this 117 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: episode just had a particularly large amount of sources saying 118 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: totally contradictory things with absolute authorities. So I found some 119 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: sources that said the very first of these were built 120 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen twelve, and then others that very confidently said 121 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: that the first one was in like eighteen oh four, 122 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: And which is right, I don't know. And in eighteen 123 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: sixteen journal entry though armand Marie Antoinette Duplaci Marquise de 124 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: Montcalm Gozon describes a French Montagne rouse this way quote. 125 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: It is an inclined plane made of planks of sixty 126 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: feet more or less, at the top of which is 127 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: placed a sled on which one sits, and which brings 128 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: you to the bottom with an extreme rapidity. This pleasure, 129 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: which is not without danger, may be compared, according to 130 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: the opinion of several people, to the impression that one 131 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: would feel if one fell from a fourth floor window, 132 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: which does not seem very seductive. These mountains are made 133 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: of ice in Russia, and one hopes, in spite of 134 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: the difference in climate, to imitate them in winter. A 135 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: man said, in speaking of them, that he was surprised 136 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: that this fashion does not elicit complaint against the influence 137 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: of Russia, which is very common today to render responsible 138 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: for everything. These amusements were extremely popular in France, and 139 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: they were also known as promenade rienne or aerial walks. 140 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: There were songs and plays about them, and people could 141 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: buy all kinds of mountains souvenirs. Intense rivalries also developed 142 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: between competing mountains, and in eighteen seventeen, these rivalries even 143 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: inspired a satirical play called the Battle of the Mountains 144 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: or bougeu faull. This popularity was somewhat ironic. Number one. 145 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: These attractions seemed to have been most popular and most 146 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: widespread in France in eighteen sixteen. In eighteen seventeen, in 147 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: other words, during the year without a summer, which was 148 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: much chillier and much rainier than normal, you can look 149 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,439 Speaker 1: out for an upcoming Saturday classic on the year without 150 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: a summer. Number two. This was just after the end 151 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: of the Napoleonic Wars. France had been defeated in eighteen 152 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: fifteen and Napoleon had abdicated for the second time under 153 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: the Treaty of Paris of eighteen fifteen, which officially ended 154 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: the war. France was occupied by the nations that had 155 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: fought against and those occupiers included Russia. It's possible that 156 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: the number of montagner Rouse, built in France during the Eighteenteens, 157 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: was made possible by Russian occupiers who already knew how 158 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: to do it. But it's also a little odd that 159 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: French citizens seemed to have really fl and celebrated something 160 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: that was so closely associated with Russia, something that the 161 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,439 Speaker 1: Marquis alluded to in her journal entry. Montagna Rouss also 162 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: became a metaphor in France during this period, both in 163 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: literature and in casual conversation. A lot like roller coaster 164 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: can be used today to describe the various up and 165 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,719 Speaker 1: downs of life, among other things. Most of these attractions 166 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: closed by the end of eighteen eighteen. Sending a wheeled 167 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: vehicle down a wooden track at high speeds naturally caused 168 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: a lot of wear, and these tracks weren't maintained very well, 169 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: so they eventually broke down. The popularity of the Montagne 170 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,679 Speaker 1: Rousse also plummeted that year after two riders were killed 171 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: when the car that they were in stopped suddenly. The 172 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 1: post war occupation of France also ended in eighteen eighteen, 173 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: and it's possible that after that point people did kind 174 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,439 Speaker 1: of want to get away from all the foreign influences. 175 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: We should also take a moment here to note that 176 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: French is not the only language to call roller coasters 177 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: some variation on Russian or Russian mountains. A lot of 178 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: other languages in Western Europe do, including Spanish, Portuguese, Basque, Catalan, 179 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: and Italian, among others. The next stretch of roller coaster history, 180 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: kind of like this one was, is a little contradictory 181 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 1: and sometimes vague, and we will get to it after 182 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. If you pull up five different articles 183 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: about roller coasters, you may find at least that many 184 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: completely different and yet totally authoritative declarations of which thing 185 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: was the first roller coaster. Some of them also either 186 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: named the Russian Flying Mountains or the French Montaigne Rouse 187 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: that we already talked about, And to be fair, these 188 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: do seem pretty similar to roller coasters, especially the ones 189 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: that like specifically described going down this progressively smaller series 190 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: of hills. We are going to talk about some of 191 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 1: the other various contenders. In the eighteen thirties and forties, 192 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: a number of centrifugal railways were built in various cities 193 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: in Europe. There's some speculation that these were inspired by 194 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: children's toys in which you would keep a marble or 195 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: a ball rolling around on the inside of a wire track. 196 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: A centrifugal railway was basically a downward slope leading into 197 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: a circular vertical loop with an upward slope on the 198 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: other side. Riders would get in the car on one 199 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: end of the slope and ride through the vertical loop 200 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: to the other side. Accounts of these centrifugal railways suggests 201 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: that it was as much about the terrifying thrill of 202 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 1: the experience as it was about watching other people do 203 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: it and maybe not coming out unscathed. This was just 204 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,199 Speaker 1: not a smooth ride. It was full of jolts and bumps, 205 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: and because the loop was shaped like a circle, the 206 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: gravitational forces involved could be really intense. There also wasn't 207 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: really any safety equipment, reportedly not even like seat belts. 208 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: Centrifugal force was what was supposed to keep people in 209 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:16,199 Speaker 1: their seats, and that worked as long as nothing happened 210 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: to cause the car to either slow down or stop suddenly. 211 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 1: Builders tested these railways by sending a variety of inanimate 212 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: objects through the loop like eggs or sandbags, as well 213 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 1: as animals, including monkeys. In the eighteen sixties, a coal 214 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: transport near what's now jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, became an amusement ride. 215 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: Starting in eighteen twenty eight, the mock Chunk Switched Back 216 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: Railway had carried coal about nine miles, mostly downhill, from 217 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,319 Speaker 1: the mines to the Lehigh Canal. A brakeman controlled the 218 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: speed of the descent, and once enough cars had reached 219 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:53,680 Speaker 1: the bottom, a mule team would haul them back to 220 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: the top. A return track with a steam powered hauler 221 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: was added in eighteen forty four. This return track was 222 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 1: ratcheted to keep the cars from sliding back down as 223 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: the hauler stopped for some reason. Ratchet systems are still 224 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: used on anti rollback devices on roller coasters today. That's 225 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 1: what makes that repetitive clacking noise that you hear when 226 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: a roller coaster is being pulled up a hill. In 227 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: about eighteen sixty five, the Mock Chunks Switched Back Railway 228 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: started carrying human tourists as passengers and the evenings when 229 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: the mines weren't running. Then in the eighteen seventies, construction 230 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,119 Speaker 1: of a tunnel made the railway unnecessary for coal transport, 231 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: and this railway became a tourist attraction full time. It 232 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: ran as a tourist attraction until closing in nineteen thirty three. 233 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: At around the same time that the mock Chunk Switchback 234 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: Railway became a dedicated tourist attraction, other inventors in the 235 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: United States were working on inclined railways. This term could 236 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: have a few different meanings. Railways meant to pull loads 237 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: up a hill, Funicular railways with two counterbalanced carriages connected 238 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: by a cable, and roller coaster like amusement rides were 239 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: all called inclined railways. John G. Taylor was granted a 240 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: patent called Improvement of Inclined Railways in eighteen seventy two. 241 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: His patent shows two parallel tracks, each of them with 242 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: hills of various sizes, and the car would roll from 243 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: the highest point down to the other end. His description 244 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: makes it clear that there were already inclined railways being built, 245 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: but that his was better because it had a switch 246 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: that would move the car from one track to the 247 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: other so that people could continue the journey in the 248 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: other direction. Once passengers had disembarked, the car would be 249 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: manually moved up a short hill before being switched back 250 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: to the other track at the starting point. While Taylor's 251 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: patent describes what he calls an improvement, it doesn't have 252 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: all the details of a working device, like it doesn't 253 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: say how the car would be stopped at the end 254 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: of the line. While the illustration has a little set 255 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: of steps suggesting where a passenger would disembark, the steps 256 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: connect directly to one of the rails, and there's no 257 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: corresponding platform for people to get on the railway, So 258 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: older sources often described this as a patent that was 259 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 1: issued for an idea, not an invention that Taylor ever 260 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: actually made. However, there are multiple newspaper articles mentioning Taylor's 261 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: patented inclined railway carrying actual passengers, and there is even 262 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: at least one photo. As one example, the August fifteenth, 263 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four, edition of the Middletown, Connecticut Daily Constitution 264 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: claims that Taylor's railway carried two hundred and fifty thousand 265 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: passengers the year before with no injuries. Richard Nudson was 266 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: also issued a different patent for improvement and inclined plane 267 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: railways in eighteen seventy eight. This one featured a lift 268 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: at each end of the track for raising the car 269 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: back up to the top. It's possible that Nudson built 270 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: one of these, maybe even at Coney Island, which wasn't 271 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: far away from where he lived, but if he did, 272 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: no documentation has been found of that yet. We don't 273 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: really know who coined the term roller coaster, but according 274 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,919 Speaker 1: to the Oxford English Dictionary, its first written usage in 275 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: English was in the Chicago Tribune in eighteen eighty three. 276 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,159 Speaker 1: There were some earlier uses than that, though, including in 277 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: the Steuben Republican of Angola, Indiana, and the Saint Louis 278 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: Post Dispatch. The Steuben Republican describes a roller coaster as 279 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: the chief attraction at the tri State Fair, calling it 280 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: quote a small improvement on the old time sport of 281 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: riding downhill and trudging up the best way you can. 282 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: The roller coaster described in this article is on an inclined, 283 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: circular track about six hundred feet long, with fifteen or 284 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: twenty people riding on a long bench like car for 285 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: a ride that lasted about twelve seconds. The ride described 286 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: in the Chicago Tribune a few days later was also circular, 287 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: with a circumference of about four hundred thirty feet and 288 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: a drop of about twenty two feet. The Saint Louis 289 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,719 Speaker 1: Post dispatch mention of roller coasters that came out around 290 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: this time isn't a pair of ads. One of them 291 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: is quote roller coaster sliding downhill on wheels, Lucas Place 292 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:18,919 Speaker 1: in twentieth Street, and the other is quote roller coaster 293 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: the old fashioned sleigh ride. Don't fail to take a 294 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: ride Lucas Place in twentieth And also, to further complicate 295 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: this whole Oxford English Dictionary citation of the Chicago Tribune 296 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: is the first mention. A few days before, the Tribune 297 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: published an article about a roller coaster being built, which 298 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: is what the OEED cites as the word's first use. 299 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 1: It also published an ad. This ad specified that ec 300 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 1: Hudson wanted to hire a man to act as the 301 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: roller coasters manager, had a salary of twenty dollars a week, 302 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: so before the building of the roller coaster was reported on, 303 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 1: he was trying to hire somebody to run it. And 304 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: now nearly two to the way through this episode, we 305 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 1: are finally getting to someone who is very frequently described 306 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,400 Speaker 1: as the inventor of the roller coaster or the inventor 307 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,399 Speaker 1: of the first modern roller coaster or the inventor of 308 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: the first commercially successful roller coaster. LaMarcus A. Thompson, who 309 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 1: built the Switchback Gravity pleasure railway at Coney Island, New 310 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: York in eighteen eighty four. Some accounts say he modeled 311 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: it after Richard Knudsen's patent, and others after the mock 312 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: chunk Switchback Railway. Thompson had invented other things, including a 313 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: car coupler and a knitting machine, and some accounts he 314 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: had worked himself to exhaustion on the knitting machine business 315 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: and that had led his doctor to advise him to 316 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,439 Speaker 1: spend more time outside and that's what led him to 317 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: build a roller coaster. In other accounts, he was a 318 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: devout Christian and was concerned about the temptations of beer 319 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: gardens and other vice ridden pastimes on young people, and 320 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: he wanted to offer an alternative. It may have been both. 321 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:04,479 Speaker 1: I found zero primary sources confirming any of that, and 322 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: every time I read some detail, I was like, where 323 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 1: are you getting this? In addition to the fact that 324 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,439 Speaker 1: we've already talked about a whole lot of things that 325 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: could be called the first roller coaster, Thompson's roller Coasting 326 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 1: structure patented in eighteen eighty five, doesn't seem all that 327 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: roller coaster e in a lot of ways. There were 328 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,439 Speaker 1: two parallel tracks, with the ends of the tracks at 329 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,120 Speaker 1: the same height, and riders would go out on one 330 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: track and back on the other through a series of 331 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: slopes that looked pretty gentle in the patent illustration. Since 332 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: friction and air resistance and other factors meant that the 333 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,880 Speaker 1: car wouldn't be able to get to the top at 334 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,360 Speaker 1: the far end of the track by itself, it did 335 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: so by quote means being provided to continue the car 336 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: to the top. That meant that somebody pushed it the 337 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: rest of the way. Passengers road sideways on what was 338 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,879 Speaker 1: basically a bench, and they traveled at about six miles 339 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: an hour, So this was more about getting a view 340 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: of Coney Islands than about any kind of extreme thrill seeking. 341 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: Maybe riding a bench at six miles an hour would 342 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: have felt really thrilling at the time. A lot of 343 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: people run that fast found that a little amusing for 344 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 1: that reason. Sometimes Thompson's rides are called scenic railways rather 345 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: than roller coasters, but slower not Thompson's first ride at 346 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: Coney Island was extremely popular. People paid five cents to 347 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: ride it, and he recouped all the money he'd spent 348 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: to build it in about three weeks. He also kept 349 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: working on developments for his invention, and by eighteen eighty 350 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: seven he held about thirty patents related to roller coasters. 351 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: He also founded a company to build scenic railways, which 352 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: often took riders past dioramas, scenery, and other theatrical and 353 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:55,919 Speaker 1: visual elements. There are a lot of comparisons to the 354 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: It's a Small World ride at Disney, but on a 355 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: railroad instead of well, it makes me think of the 356 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: Disneyland Railway, which is like train ride that goes past 357 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 1: dioramas and you're like, oh, dinosaurs. I've never been to Disneyland, 358 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: so I don't know that one. It got reworked, and 359 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: I don't I don't want to make any promises. I 360 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: don't remember what all, if anything got added or subtracted there. 361 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: But that's how it's worked for a long time. We 362 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: call it rolling bench. It makes us so happy to 363 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: just sit there and watch beautiful things. I'm gonna say 364 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: on a couple of times that I have been to 365 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: Disney in Florida, not in California. As an adult, I 366 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,880 Speaker 1: have delighted in the rides where you just sit down 367 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: in a cool space and ride and look at things. 368 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: Give me The people move all day long. So we're 369 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: gonna move on to the spread of rides like these 370 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: or faster versions of rides like these, after quick sponsor break. 371 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: Before we talk about how roller coasters proliferated, especially in 372 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: the United States, we should talk a little bit about 373 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: the development of amusement parks, because, especially from this point on, 374 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: roller coasters and amusement parks are very tightly linked. So 375 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: there's not really one linear family tree of amusement parks. 376 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: It's more like multiple possible influences going all the way 377 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,400 Speaker 1: back to the medieval period. Some of their earliest precursors 378 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: were probably European trade fairs, such as Saint Bartholomew's Fair, 379 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: which started in England in eleven thirty three. This was 380 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: an annual event that incorporated both trade and entertainment, and 381 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,639 Speaker 1: through the centuries, Saint Bartholomew's and other fairs gradually became 382 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: more and more focused on food, drink, and amusements, including rides. 383 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: For example, there were early versions of ferris wheels at 384 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: Saint Bartholomew's Fair in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Overlap 385 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: with trade fairs were pleasure gardens, which operated during most 386 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: or all of the year, rather than just for a 387 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: few days or weeks at a time. Also had a 388 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,400 Speaker 1: lot of food and entertainments and rides. Sometimes these were 389 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 1: built by the owners of inns or taverns who were 390 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 1: looking for ways to bring in more clientele during their 391 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: slower periods. Then, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw 392 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: the rise of large international exhibitions or World's fairs, where 393 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 1: the nations exhibiting at the fair showed off their new 394 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: developments and accomplishments. Many of these fairs featured ethnological expositions 395 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: that were essentially human zoos. The World's Colombian Exposition of 396 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety three also had an entertainment area that was 397 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: separate from all the exhibitions, which it called the Midway, 398 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: and it was like a carnival with side shows, food, 399 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 1: and rides. This intersects with the rise of trolley parks 400 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: toward the end of the nineteenth century, and many areas 401 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,400 Speaker 1: colley lines were charged a flat fee for electricity, regardless 402 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: of how many trolleys were running, or how many passengers 403 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: those trolleys were carrying, So something that was mostly happening 404 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: in the United States, and a lot of trolley companies 405 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,159 Speaker 1: started investing in attractions at the end of the line 406 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: to try to bring passengers onto the trolley on their 407 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: day off of work. Often the entry to the park 408 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 1: itself was free, and then people would pay for rides 409 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: and food and drink. In nineteen oh two, day Allen 410 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,640 Speaker 1: Willie wrote of this quote, the expression trolley park may 411 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: not as yet have come into common use, but no 412 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: explanation of its meaning is necessary. The oldest of the 413 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: trolley parks has been in existence but a few years. 414 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: Yet today these resorts are to be found on the 415 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: outskirts of nearly every city in the land. The fact 416 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: is that the street and suburban railway companies, realizing the 417 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: profit arising by catering to the pleasure of the masses, 418 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: have entered into the amusement field on an extensive scale. 419 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: There were other factors involved beside just the trolley lines 420 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: wanting to make money. Among other things, increased urbanization meant 421 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: that there were more city dwellers looking for some kind 422 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: of outdoor recreation. By nineteen nineteen, almost every major city 423 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: in the US had at least one trolley park. Coney 424 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,479 Speaker 1: Island in New York was one such destination. By the 425 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: middle of the nineteenth century, it had already become a 426 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: seaside resort area thanks to its location at the southern 427 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: tip of Brooklyn, New York. It shift into being associated 428 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 1: with amusement parks started with the construction of individual rides, 429 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: including the Switchback Gravity Pleasure Railway. The first enclosed amusement 430 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: park built at Coney Island was Sea Lion Park, which 431 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 1: opened in eighteen eighty five. The most famous of these 432 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: parks was probably Luna Park, which opened in nineteen oh 433 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,959 Speaker 1: three and then became the namesake for a lot of 434 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: other amusement parks all over the world. More trolley parks 435 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: and more amusement parks meant more rides, including more roller coasters, 436 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: and that led to a lot of developments being made really, 437 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: really quickly. In eighteen eighty five, Philip Hinkel developed a 438 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: hoist that pulled cars up to the top of the 439 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: first hill, which let the cars start out higher and 440 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: ultimately reach a faster speed. In eighteen ninety four, e 441 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 1: Joy Morris produced the Figure eight side friction coaster, which 442 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 1: had wheels rolling along the tracks inner edge and allowed 443 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,439 Speaker 1: for faster speeds and tighter turns. This was also the 444 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: first widely mass produced roller coaster, making it possible for 445 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,400 Speaker 1: parks all over North America to buy and build one 446 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,199 Speaker 1: of their own. Over the next decades, a rise in 447 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,120 Speaker 1: mechanization and mass production techniques made it possible for more 448 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,439 Speaker 1: designers to create roller coasters that would give the same 449 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: consistent ride every time, no matter where the coaster was built, 450 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:04,920 Speaker 1: at least fully in theory. In theory. Two people who 451 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,360 Speaker 1: were working on vertical loop roller coasters near the turn 452 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century were Lena Beecher and Edwin Prescott. 453 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: Prescott was awarded a patent for the Loop. The Loop, 454 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 1: which was installed at Coney Island. Like the centrifugal railways 455 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: that had been built in Europe more than fifty years before, 456 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: this beatured a circular vertical loop. In eighteen ninety nine, 457 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 1: Lena Beecher developed another circular vertical loop roller coaster called 458 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: the Flip Flap, which was also built at Coney Island. Then, 459 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh one, Edwin Prescott developed a looping roller 460 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: coaster with a tear drop shaped loop, which reduced some 461 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: of the excessive g forces that riders were subjected to 462 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: in a circular loop. A lot of roller coaster loops 463 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: still have that kind of tear drop shape design today, 464 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: and then Beecher soon adopted a tear drop shape design 465 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: for his own vertical roller coaster as well. John Miller 466 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: worked with a number of different roller coaster designers, including 467 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,160 Speaker 1: LaMarcus Thompson, and he was issued his first patent in 468 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: nineteen ten for a safety device called the chain lift, 469 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: which kept roller coaster cars from rolling backwards. This was 470 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: the first of many patents Miller was awarded a lot 471 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 1: of them for safety features or for features that made 472 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: it possible for roller coasters to go faster, higher, or 473 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: through sharper turns than they did before without crashing or derailing. 474 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: Another of his major innovations was under friction wheels, which 475 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 1: helped prevent derailments, and he patented those in nineteen nineteen. 476 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: By this point, amusement parks were being built in other 477 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: parts of the world as well, often with American engineers 478 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: or designers working as consultants or with American companies providing 479 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: blueprints or even entire disassembled rides to be put together 480 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: on site. In nineteen ten, this had reached the point 481 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: that the US Department of State recognized usement parks as 482 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: a trade opportunity and asked trade consoles to gather information 483 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: about existing parks and opportunities to build new ones. All 484 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: over the world. By the nineteen twenties, there were amusement 485 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: parks on every continent except Antarctica, many of them pattern 486 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: after the parks on Coney Island, and this was a 487 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: really like a heyday for roller coasters. The Coney Islands Cyclone, 488 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: built in nineteen twenty seven, reached speeds of fifty five 489 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: miles or eighty nine kilometers per hour, and it had 490 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: an eighty five foot drop, something that's not nearly as 491 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: fast or tall as most newly built roller coasters today, 492 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:41,719 Speaker 1: but it was at the time groundbreaking. The Coney Islands 493 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: Cyclone still stands today and is build as the second 494 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: steepest wooden roller coaster in the world. The boom and 495 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: trolley parks, amusement parks and roller coasters in the United 496 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: States was also happening, alongside increasingly legislated racial segregation in 497 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: many parts of the country. Many parks either allowed only 498 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 1: white patrons or allowed patrons regardless of race, but also 499 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: had segregated facilities like restrooms and only allowed white patrons 500 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: in some areas like restaurants. But there were also black 501 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,040 Speaker 1: entrepreneurs who opened their own parks, such as joy Land 502 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: in Chicago, which was the first black owned and operated 503 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: amusement park in the United States. In the United States, 504 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,280 Speaker 1: amusement parks and their roller coasters started to go into 505 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: a decline during the depression in World War Two. During 506 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: the depression, people often just didn't have the money to 507 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 1: visit an amusement park or to invest in building a 508 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: new one. During and after World War Two, people became 509 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 1: more focused on exercise based recreations, such as organized athletic teams. 510 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: The post war baby boom also led to more parks 511 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: that were focused specifically on recreation for children. As more 512 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: people started driving cars and the US started building more 513 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: roads and highways to accommodate them, the idea of taking 514 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: a train or trolley to the park at the end 515 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: of the line started to fall out of fashion. This 516 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: was not as true in other parts of the world, though, 517 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: As the amusement park economy cooled in the United States, 518 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,719 Speaker 1: American developers started intentionally focusing on other countries, some of 519 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: which continued to build new parks all the way through 520 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties and forties. These ongoing international efforts by 521 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: American companies to build amusement parks and roller coasters in 522 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: other countries maybe why In Russia, for example, roller coasters 523 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 1: are not Russian mountains. They are americanski gorky or American 524 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: slides basically. And there are a lot of other languages 525 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: whose words for roller coaster include some version of American. 526 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: These include Ukrainian, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian. In the nineteen twenties, 527 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 1: there had been thousands of roller coasters in the United States, 528 00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: but as the nineteen sixties approached, there were fewer than 529 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: two two hundreds still in operation. But then there was 530 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: another big shift with the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, 531 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 1: on July seventeenth, nineteen fifty five, followed by the opening 532 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: of the Matterhorn roller coaster there on June fourteenth, nineteen 533 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: fifty nine. Sometimes the Matterhorn is described as the first 534 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: steel track roller coaster, but there were earlier steel coasters. 535 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,959 Speaker 1: What set the matter Horn apart was that the tracks 536 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: were tubular, meaning that the ride was a lot smoother 537 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: than on earlier coasters. Disneyland is often credited with sparking 538 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,680 Speaker 1: a resurgence in the building of theme parks in the 539 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: United States. Sometimes people use theme park and amusement park interchangeably, 540 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 1: but there's a little new ones there. Basically, theme parks 541 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: are abusement parks designed around a theme. It's pretty self explanatory. 542 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: The development of tubular steel roller coaster tracks paved the 543 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: way for so many other roller coaster innovations, just as 544 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: some examples. The first cork screw roller coaster was the 545 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 1: Roaring Twenties Corkscrew at Nottsbury Farm in California, which was 546 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 1: later moved to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho. The first 547 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: shuttle launched coasters were developed in nineteen seventy seven, and 548 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: the first roller coasters with interlocking vertical loops debut in 549 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, one of those being the Lockness Monster 550 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,120 Speaker 1: at Bush Gardens in Virginia. The first suspended roller coasters 551 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: opened in the nineteen eighties, with riders hanging below the 552 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,840 Speaker 1: rail rather than sitting above it in a car that 553 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: could swing as it went around turns. The first inverted coasters, 554 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,720 Speaker 1: which have riders similarly below the track but don't swing 555 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: out in that way, came out in the early nineteen nineties. 556 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: Electromagnetic propulsion systems were introduced for roller coasters in the 557 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, making it possible for coasters to be launched 558 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: very quickly rather than pulled up hills to coast most 559 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: or all of the rest of the way. Today's biggest 560 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,800 Speaker 1: fastest roller coasters so different from the ones that we 561 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:06,280 Speaker 1: talked about earlier in the show. Currently, the tallest roller 562 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,880 Speaker 1: coaster in the world is listed as the Kingdoka at 563 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: six Flags Grade Adventure in New Jersey that is four 564 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:15,560 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty six feet or one hundred and thirty 565 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:19,840 Speaker 1: nine meters tall, and the fastest at this moment that 566 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 1: we're reading is Formula RASA at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, 567 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 1: which reaches speeds of one hundred and forty nine point 568 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: one miles an hour, which is two hundred and forty 569 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:33,240 Speaker 1: kilometers per hour. So of course, there have also been 570 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 1: a lot of safety innovations throughout these same years to 571 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 1: try to make it possible for coasters to go that high. 572 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: And that fast without being just extraordinarily deadly. While fatal 573 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,240 Speaker 1: roller coaster disasters are rare at this point, less severe 574 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: injuries are a lot more common. It's kind of tricky 575 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 1: to give exact numbers because a lot of statistics group 576 00:35:54,360 --> 00:36:00,879 Speaker 1: amusement park rides together rather than isolating roller coaster injuries specifically. Yeah, 577 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 1: even with all the various like shoulder harnesses and you know, 578 00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: other ways to try to keep the passengers in these safe, 579 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,400 Speaker 1: Like it's still a lot of a lot of drops 580 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,320 Speaker 1: and a whipping around, and like there are opportunities for 581 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: various physiological consequences of that. Yeah, Yeah, I'm sure we 582 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,000 Speaker 1: will talk some more about roller coasters on Friday. And 583 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: in the meanwhile, I have listener mail from Jeff. Jeff 584 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,800 Speaker 1: wrote and said love the show. I've been listening for years. 585 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: Just an added note on modern day use of military balloons. 586 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,480 Speaker 1: I was a paratrooper in Canada in the nineties. When 587 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 1: paratroopers train with other Allied countries or airborne forces, they 588 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:51,040 Speaker 1: are often awarded that country's jump wings as an honorary 589 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: sort of thing. My regiment sent soldiers to the UK 590 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,000 Speaker 1: to work with the Parachute Regiment. While there, they did 591 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 1: basic UK parachute training and they were awarded their British 592 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: jump wings. The training jumps they did were from balloons. 593 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:07,799 Speaker 1: I don't know if they still trained this way or not, 594 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: but they did in the nineties. The balloon was on 595 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,920 Speaker 1: a winch that could be raised and lowered. The candidate 596 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,759 Speaker 1: got in the basket and the winch was spooled out 597 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 1: to about a thousand feet. They opened the door on 598 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: the side of the basket and performed their drills with 599 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:23,719 Speaker 1: the instructor and then jumped out of the basket and 600 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 1: parachuted to the ground. The basket was then winched back 601 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:30,440 Speaker 1: down to pick up the next candidate. Here's a link, Jeff. 602 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,640 Speaker 1: I did not know that, Jeff, but that makes total 603 00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 1: sense that that could be a good way to get 604 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,839 Speaker 1: people trained on do them parachute jumps. If you would 605 00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:41,520 Speaker 1: like to send us a note about this or any 606 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 1: other podcasts, we're at History Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com 607 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: and we're all over social media. Ad missed in History, 608 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: so we'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, and 609 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,480 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app 610 00:37:54,600 --> 00:38:02,759 Speaker 1: or wherever you like to get door podcasts stuff. You 611 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,920 Speaker 1: missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For 612 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:10,440 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 613 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.