A Ferris wheel is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, they are kept upright, usually by gravity. Some of the largest modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on the outside of the rim, with electric motors to independently rotate each car to keep it upright. These cars are often referred to as capsules or pods.
The Singapore Flyer, a Ferris wheel in Singapore
Dancing the hora on Dealul Spirii (Spirii Hill), Bucharest, Romania (1857 lithograph)
Magic-City, Paris, France, 1913
William Somers' Wheel, installed 1892, immediate precursor to the original Ferris Wheel
The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was designed and built by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. as the centerpiece of the Midway at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
Since its construction, many other Ferris wheels have been constructed that were patterned after it.
George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.'s wheel
The original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel
View through the Ferris Wheel
The Ferris Wheel in Lincoln Park, Chicago, looking north from Wrightwood Avenue