During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a series of international exhibitions in major cities around the globe attracted millions of visitors to national and corporate pavilions that demonstrated their industrial and cultural achievements. Many products now in common use were first seen by the general public at world's fairs, such as the telephone (see entry under 1900s—The Way We Lived in volume 1), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1876); the phonograph (see entry under 1900s—Music in volume 1), in Paris, France (1889); incandescent lights and the Ferris wheel (see entry under 1900s—The Way We Lived in volume 1), in Chicago, Illinois (1893); the ice-cream cone (see entry under 1900s—Food and Drink in volume 1), in St. Louis, Missouri (1904); television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3), in New York (1939); and the IBM (see entry under 1980s—Commerce in volume 5) computer, in New York (1964).

The first...