World's Faire

Today I visited the World's Faire. The first exhibit I went to was about radiography, where I learned that Henri Becquerel discovered natural radioactivity while he was investigating properties of fluorescent mineral. I also discovered that the first use of X-rays were for an industrial application, and they were also used by battlefield physicians to find bullets in wounded soldiers. Later, I visited the booth about automobiles in the nineteenth century. Here, I learned that the nineteenth century was a time of great technological advancement, especially for the automotive industry. This industry was refined to create the modern gasoline-powered vehicles and it also caused a giant boom of popularity for personal automobiles. Later on, I visited the exhibit about medicine. There I learned that during the 19th century, blood transfusions and X-rays were introduced. The X-rays helped identify diseases early, and they increased knowledge in the development of diseases. Also during this time, there was a breakthrough of surgical anesthesia, which made surgery more plausible and important. From 1880 to 1980, life expectancy jumped about twenty years. After finishing with this booth, I moved on to learn about the first bicycle. While visiting this booth, I learned that there were seven types of bicycles. These are the Dandy Horse, draisene, velocipede, three and four wheelers, muchaux, high wheel bicycle, and safety bicycle. The Dandy Horse was created by Baron Karl Von Drais, and the vehicle was the first to use two wheels in tandem. It was introduced in Paris in 1818. Lastly, I was drawn to an exhibit about fireworks. Here, I learned that the invention of fireworks led to the invention of pyrotechnic weaponry. Also, engineers used the explosives in fireworks to make a crude gunpowder catapult. In terms of land warfare, fireworks were attached to "ground rats." I learned a lot of new and interesting information from all of these exhibits, and they all helped give me a deeper understanding of the late nineteenth century.