Pan-American Exposition
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The Pan–American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901.
[edit] History
It was organized by the Pan–American Exposition Company, formed in 1897. Cayuga Island was initially chosen as the place to hold the Exposition because of the island's proximity to Niagara Falls, which was a huge tourist attraction. But when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, all plans were put on hold.
After the war, there was a heated rivalry between Buffalo and Niagara Falls over the location. Buffalo won out for two main reasons. First, Buffalo had a much larger population — with roughly 350,000 people, it was the eighth-largest city in the United States. Second, Buffalo had better rail connections — the city was within a day's journey by railroad for over 40 million people. In July 1898, Congress pledged $500,000 for the Exposition to be held at Buffalo.
Another helpful factor was that Nikola Tesla had recently invented a three-phase system of alternating current power transmission for distant transfer of electricity. It allowed designers to light the Exposition in Buffalo using power generated 25 miles away at Niagara Falls.
The exposition is most remembered because U.S. President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, on September 6, 1901. McKinley gave an address at the exposition the previous day; his speech included the following words:
Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancements. They stimulate the energy, enterprise, and intellect of the people, and quicken human genius. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open mighty storehouses of information to the student....
The newly-developed X-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it may have had on him. Also, ironically, the operating room at the exposition's emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings were covered with thousands of light bulbs. Doctors used a pan to reflect sunlight onto the operating table as they treated McKinley's wounds.
When the fair ended, the buildings were demolished and the grounds were cleared and subdivided for residential streets. A boulder marking the site of McKinley's assassination was placed in a grassy median on Fordham Drive in Buffalo. The sole surviving structure, the New York State building, was designed to permanently outlast the Exposition and be used by the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society as their headquarters. It continues to do so today and can be visited on Middlesex Road in Buffalo.
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