In the early 1850s, the United States with new resolve looked abroad to cement its legitimacy on the world stage. The common form of international competition at the time was in staging World Fairs. England had a high successful one in London in 1851, featuring the country’s great wonders: the The Koh-i-Noor, the world’s biggest known diamond; a prototype fax machine and a prototype voting machine. The U.S. decided to organize its own, to show off the nation’s burgeoning  industry.

On this day, July 14, in 1854, The first United States-hosted World Fair, the Exhibition of Industry of All Nations opened at the Crystal Palace (a virtual twin of the one built earlier in London) in New York City.

As the London exhibition, the New York one had many a thrilling exhibit, including one by a bearded daredevil of a man, Elisha Otis, who wanted to demonstrate the safety of his constructed elevator. Otis stepped inside of a wooden chamber, which was then raised up by a rope to the top of his constructed shaft. Otis then gave the signal to cut the rope, sending his elevator plunging down for a brief moment before a safety mechanism kicked in to halt the freefall.