On this day, October 21st, 1892, dedication ceremonies for The World’s Columbian Exposition were held. The World’s Columbian Exposition was a fair held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World in 1492. Aside from celebrating this anniversary, it was also a time for Chicago to show off to the world that they had recovered from the Great Chicago Fire—which destroyed much of the city in 1871. The fair greatly affected the city’s self image, architecture, the arts, and American industrial optimism.
The exposition covered more than 600 acres of land and featured almost 200 new (but temporary) buildings of neoclassical architecture, canals, lagoons, and people of cultures from around the world.
The fairgrounds weren’t open to the public until a few months later (May 1893), but the fair went on till October 1893. Chicago defeated other major cities like New York City, Washington D.C. and St. Louis for the honor of hosting the fair.