The 1893 World's Fair: The White City, Tesla vs. Edison, and the First Ferris Wheel | History Sleep Story w. Rain Sounds

<p>Drift off tonight beneath the gaslit domes of the White City. This is the full story of the 1893 World's Fair, the Chicago exposition that rose out of a swamp to become the most spectacular event of the nineteenth century, then vanished almost overnight.</p><p>Settle in under rain sounds and gentle narration as we cover the fair's impossible construction race against Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted, the War of Currents fought between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla for the contract to light the entire fairground, the invention of the original Ferris Wheel built to out-do the Eiffel Tower, and the fair's tragic final days, including the assassination of Chicago's mayor just before closing.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Prefer this episode ad-free? Founders get it early, ad-free, on Patreon. </strong></p><p><strong>Join here: patreon.com/SleeplessHistory/posts/ad-free-fou… is history for sleep: a slow, calm bedtime story for adults who love history but need help winding down. No jump scares, no rushing, just a soothing voice, a background of steady rain, and a true story from the past to help quiet a racing mind.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><ul><li>How Chicago won the fair over New York, Washington DC, and Saint Louis</li><li>The construction of the White City and the sudden death of architect John Root</li><li>Edison's direct current (DC) vs. Tesla and Westinghouse's alternating current (AC)</li><li>George Ferris and the birth of the Ferris Wheel</li><li>The Midway Plaisance and the fair's global sideshow of cultures and inventions</li><li>The assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison and the fair's somber final days</li><li>What's left of the White City today, and how it shaped Chicago and world's fairs after it</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Chapters / Timestamps:</strong></p><p>00:00:00 – Introduction: Welcome to the White City</p><p>00:02:43 – Chapter One: A City Built From Nothing</p><p>00:25:08 – Chapter Two: The War of Currents, Fought in Front of Twenty-Seven Million People</p><p>00:39:33 – Chapter Three: The Wheel That Was Not Supposed to Stand Up</p><p>00:53:34 – Chapter Four: The Lights Go Out</p><p>01:10:34 – Closing Reflections</p><p><br></p><p><em>Sleepless History is an independent, narration-driven history podcast made for sleep. Real stories from the past, told slowly, over ambient soundscapes, so you can learn something new and still fall asleep before the end. New episodes drop twice weekly. If this one helped you drift off, follow/subscribe so the next one is waiting for you tomorrow night. Rain sounds throughout. Calm, steady narration.</em></p><br/><br/>Advertising Inquiries: <a href='redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com… & Opt-Out: <a href='redcircle.com/privacy'>https://redcircle.co…;