I'm Angela O'Dell and you are listening to real cool history for kids, a podcast show featuring history stories told from a biblical worldview. Welcome to episode six of real cool history for kids. Today I'm going to

tell you the story about a man who dreamed of a monster wheel that would carry people

up into the sky.

If you have listened to episode 3 in this podcast show, you will remember the story of John Augustus Robling, the man who designed

the Brooklyn Bridge, among other major suspension bridges.

That story and the one I'm going to tell you today took place during the 1800s,

which was a time of history where steel was beginning to be manufactured in large amounts

and used in huge building projects across the country and the world.

I think that it's important to stop here for a moment and make sure we all know what steel is exactly.

Steel is an alloy or a mixture of metals. It is about 98 or 99% iron ore mixed with a little bit of other metals. That little bit of other metals can vary just

depending on what type of steel is desired.

The invention of steel is not new.

In fact, metal workers were mixing iron,

which is found in the ground as iron ore,

with other metals for many, many centuries before it was used to build

huge suspension bridges or towering skyscrapers. In fact these metals were being mined from the ground way back in the days of the ancients.

Many ancient civilizations used metal and iron ore mixed with other metals to make steel to create swords and knives and other small items of everyday use.

The man in our story today wanted to use iron for something really, really huge. This man's name was George

Washington Ferris Jr and he was born on February 14th 1859 in the town of Galesburg, Illinois.

George was one of 10 children and he was raised by parents who believed in hard work and in following your dreams.

Young George's father was a landscape artist who helped landscape the capital of Nevada when the family moved there in

1864. Throughout his childhood, the Ferris family moved several times and finally landed in Riverside, California where

...