Century 21 Exposition opens in Seattle, April
21, 1962
Amy Norcross - April 21, 2017
Designed to explore themes such as science, space
exploration, and the future, the Century 21 Exposition, also
known as the Seattle World’s Fair, celebrated American
ingenuity and offered visitors a glimpse at what the future
might hold. It ran from April 21 to October 21 of 1962, and
hosted nearly 10 million visitors.
Coinciding with the fundraising and planning stages for the
Seattle exposition, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the
first successful artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957. The
event marked the start of the Space Race and caught the
attention of many in America who had believed that the United
States was technically superior to its Cold War rival.
The exposition, the brainchild of Seattle City Councilman Al
Rochester, was originally conceived in 1955 to mark the 50th
anniversary of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, also
held in Seattle, and would be a “Festival of the [American]
West.”
Science suddenly was a hot topic, and the original Western
focus for the fair was discarded. According to an article published by the Center for the Study of the
Pacific Northwest, “American statesmen, scientists, and politicians thus seized upon Seattle's
proposed world's fair as one vehicle for responding to the challenges presented by Sputnik.” The
federal government was interested in demonstrating the nation’s scientific prowess to the world and
so decided to invest heavily in the exposition -- more than $9 million.
Among the five themed areas of the fair were the World of Science and the World of Tomorrow. One
of the popular attractions in the World of Science was Boeing’s Spacearium, which housed an
audience of 750 and provided a 10-minute “excursion” through the Solar System and the Milky Way
Galaxy and beyond. In the World of Tomorrow, visitors could ride the Bubbleator, a large glass globe
that rose into a honeycomb of cubes that foretold the future.
An ultramodern monorail was developed to transport tourists from downtown Seattle to the
fairgrounds. The fair also saw the construction of the iconic Space Needle. Inspired by a recent visit
to the Stuttgart Tower in Germany, Edward E. Carlson, chairman of the 1962 World's Fair, had an
idea for erecting a tower with a restaurant at the World's Fair. Architect John Graham, Jr., became
involved in the planning and proposed making the restaurant revolve so that diners could experience
an ever-changing view as they ate. Victor Steinbrueck, another Seattle architect, introduced the
hourglass profile of the tower. Construction on the tower began just one year before the fair opened.
The 605-foot-tall Space Needle was built to withstand hurricane-force winds and earthquakes,
features 25 lightning rods, and has become a symbol of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
The Space Needle is visible behind a sign for parking for the 1962 World's Fair. Source: Seattle
Municipal Archives
On the morning of April 21, several dignitaries, celebrities, and special guests performed or gave
speeches at Memorial Stadium, located on the grounds of the 74-acre Seattle Center, the complex
that housed the fair. Also on the stage was an electronic countdown clock that President Dwight
Eisenhower had started more than two years before to count the days, hours, minutes, and seconds
until the fair officially began.
At that moment the clock reached zero, President Kennedy, on Easter holiday in Florida, pressed a
gold telegraph key to start the fair. According to HistoryLink.org, “the key, festooned with gold
nuggets, was the same key that President William Howard Taft had used to open the Alaska-Yuko-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909. This time, instead of a simple coast-to-coast electronic signal,
the key triggered a radio telescope in Maine, which picked up an impulse from a star 10,000 light
years away. This impulse was directed towards the fairgrounds to start the festivities. The future
had arrived.”
After his remote opening of the fair in April, President Kennedy was expected to attend the closing
ceremonies on October 21, 1962. He cancelled his visit, however, citing health reasons. It later
became known that he had remained in Washington to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
A rough archival copy of “The House of Science,” an original film shown at the United States Science
Pavilion during the fair, can be viewed here, and a TV commercial promoting the fair can be viewed
below.
The building now houses the Pacific Science Center, the first U.S. museum founded as a science and
technology center. It was declared a City of Seattle Landmark on July 22, 2010.
Also see:
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Apollo-Soyuz Test Project ends Space Race, July 17, 1975
Sputnik 1 launches, October 4, 1957
War of currents: Tesla vs Edison
For more moments in tech history, see this blog. EDN strives to be historically accurate with these
postings. Should you see an error, please notify us.
Editor's note: This article was originally posted on April 21, 2014 and edited on April 21, 2017.