1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: a show that takes you on a ride through the 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: ups and downs of everyday history. I'm Gabe Louzier, and 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: today we're talking about a clever innovation that took amusement 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: park thrill rides to a whole new level. The day 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: was August six, inventor and mechanic Edwin Prescott was granted 8 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: the first US patent for a vertical loop roller coaster. 9 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: His design became a reality three years later when the 10 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: Loop the Loop roller coaster was installed on Surf Avenue 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: in Coney Island, New York. This dual track steel roller 12 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: coaster wasn't the firs thrill ride to use a loop 13 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: to flip passengers upside down, but thanks to a key 14 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: change to the shape of the loop, the coaster was 15 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: much more comfortable and safer than previous designs. Although warmly 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: embraced by Americans since the eighteen thirties, roller coasters are 17 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: actually a European invention. The earliest take on the concept 18 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: dates back to seventeenth century Russia, when thrill seekers started 19 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: building so called flying mountains, which were basically five story 20 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: tall ice ramps that featured drops as steep as fifty degrees. 21 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: Daring riders would climb inside hollowed out blocks of ice 22 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: and hold on for dear life. Not long after, the 23 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: attraction was adapted for year round use through the addition 24 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: of wooden rails and wheeled carts. Catherine the Great is 25 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: believed to have commissioned the first such man made coaster, 26 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: which was built in the gardens of her palace in St. Petersburg. 27 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: Her royal endorsement lent instant appeal to the dangerous contraptions, 28 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: especially among the upper classes. Soon roller coasters were being 29 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: built in France, England and other countries throughout Europe. The 30 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: first American roller coaster is generally considered to be the 31 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: mouse Chunk Switchback Railway in Pennsylvania. Originally constructed in eighteen 32 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: seven as a way to haul coal between mines, the 33 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: railway quickly caught the eye of local adrenaline junkies and 34 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: tourists alike. That interest led to a new dual purpose 35 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: system in which the railway would be used to transport 36 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 1: coal in the morning and thrill seeking passengers in the afternoon. 37 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: The cars were pushed along the downhill track by gravity, 38 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: and could reach speeds of fifty miles per hour when 39 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: carrying a full load. Unfortunately, powered chain lifts were still 40 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: a good fifty years or so away, so a team 41 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: of mules had to pull the empty cars back to 42 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: their starting point. By eighteen seventy three, the mauch Chunk 43 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: Railway was serving up thrills to more than thirty thousand 44 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: riders per year at a cost of just seventy five 45 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: cents each. The success of the gravity railway didn't go unnoticed, 46 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: and in eighty four, LaMarcus aDNA Thompson adapted the design 47 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: to create the first gravity roller coaster, built specifically as 48 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: an amusement ride. It opened in Brooklyn's Coney Island and 49 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: provided guests not so thrilling ride down a six d 50 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: foot long track at the leisurely speed of six miles 51 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: per hour. Unlike most modern roller coasters, Thompson's cars faced 52 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: outward instead of forward. This allowed riders to view specially 53 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: constructed scenes as they rolled along. These included diorama type 54 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: displays of exotic locations such as Venetian canals and the 55 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: Swiss Alps. All though it wasn't a pulse pounding experience. 56 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: Thompson's railway was still a commercial success, and other entrepreneurs 57 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: were quick to introduce their own gravity powered coasters. The 58 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: first of these to feature a loop de loop was 59 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: Lena Beecher's infamous Flip Flap Railway, which opened at Sea 60 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: Lion Park on Coney Island in There was a lot 61 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: of experimentation going on in coaster design at the time, 62 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: and as a result, many of the early rides were 63 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: little more than glorified death traps. In the case of 64 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: the Flip Flap railway, the danger came from the coasters 65 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: trademark loop. Because the loop was perfectly circular, it resulted 66 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: in g forces three times stronger than the average modern coaster. 67 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: Riding it felt akin to driving a car straight into 68 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: a brick wall, so, as you can imagine, it wasn't 69 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: the most popular ride at Coney Island. Still, the idea 70 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: of inverting riders with a loop seemed promising, provided you 71 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: could do it without breaking anyone's neck. That challenge was 72 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: picked up by Edwin Prescott, a ride designer from Arlington, Massachusetts. 73 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: His innovation was to swap the circular loop for an 74 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: elliptical one. That's subtle change in shape greatly reduced the 75 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: g forces, thus providing a much smoother and far less 76 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: painful ride for passengers. In nineteen o one, The Loop 77 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: The Loop became the second looping coaster ever built, but 78 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: the first one that was actually worth riding. Its breakthrough 79 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: elliptical shaped loop was later copied by other designers, and 80 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: today it remains the standard shape for all modern roller 81 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 1: coasters that include a loop. Of course, even with the 82 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: improved loop, Prescott's coaster was still pretty dangerous. For one thing, 83 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 1: the passenger cars used regular tires which weren't held to 84 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,039 Speaker 1: the track in any meaningful way. In fact, the only 85 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: thing preventing the cars from flying off besides momentum, was 86 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: a small side railing which could easily be jumped at 87 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: the right speed and angle. As a result, the Loop 88 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: The Loop brought in more money from spectators who were 89 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: willing to pay a fee to watch the ride in 90 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: action than it did from people who actually wrote it. 91 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: In the end, though the rides limited capacity was its 92 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: biggest drawback. The cars could only fit four people, and 93 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: only one car was permitted on the track at a 94 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: time for fear of a collision. A second track was 95 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: eventually built alongside the first, but even with that additional capacity, 96 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: the ride barely turned to profit. As a result, in 97 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: the loop, the Loop closed for good after only nine 98 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: years in operation. It was soon replaced by a steel 99 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: coaster called the Giant Racer. True to its name, the 100 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: track stretched three hundred yards all the way from Surf 101 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: Avenue to the beach. Despite its length, the Giant Racer 102 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: also failed to impress visitors, and it was ultimately torn 103 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: down in ninety seven. The famous Cyclone roller coaster took 104 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: its place that same year, and it remains in operation 105 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: to this day. Although the first coaster to use Prescott's 106 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: elliptical loop was a bit of a dud, it's still 107 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: got things rolling in the right direction. To honor that breakthrough, 108 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: thrill seekers across the country now celebrate National roller Coaster 109 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: Day on August sixteen, the day when Prescott squished a 110 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: circle into an ellipse and the modern roller coaster was born. 111 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully you now know a little 112 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 113 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: want to keep up with the show, you can follow 114 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d I 115 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: h C Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 116 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: you can all send him my way at this day 117 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: at I heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 118 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll 119 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: see you back here again tomorrow for another day in 120 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: History class