In 1939

In 1939 and 1940, New York City hosted a World's Fair.

The theme for this fair would be different from past World's Fairs.

Instead of a celebration of what was or what is, the New York World's Fair would celebrate what is to come. Hence its slogan, dawn of a new day.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Welcome. The The Episode 329, Dawn of a New Day

The coming of the Industrial Revolution brought with it national exhibitions, where

a nation's manufacturers would come together to show off their products.

This idea especially caught on in France, where Paris would regularly host such events.

The year 1851 brought the great exhibition at London's Crystal Palace, which did the

French one better by announcing itself to be the great exhibition of the works of industry

of all nations, and hosting exhibitions not only from Britain and its empire,

but from 44 other nations. New York City copied the great exhibition with its own version

in 1853. London hosted a second exhibition in 1862.

In 1876, the United States celebrated its centennial with an exhibition in Philadelphia.

The French followed suit by converting their national exhibitions into international exhibitions, grandly labeled universal expositions. These were held in 1878, 1889, and 1900.

Barcelona hosted one in 1888. Prague, then a part of the Austrian Empire, in 1891, Brussels in 1897.

In 1893, Chicago hosted the Columbian Exposition, meant to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the

first voyage of Christopher Columbus.

In 1904, St. Louis outdid Chicago and almost everyone else with its universal exposition,

which was so awesome I had to devote an entire episode to it, episode 26, to be precise.

In 1915, San Francisco hosted the Panama Pacific International Exposition, which was meant to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal.

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