If you're not into getting jerked around by a roller coaster and the Tilt-A-Whirl nauseates you, but you still want the thrill of an amusement park ride, perhaps a Ferris wheel is more your speed. Of course, to enjoy the thrill of a Ferris wheel, you can't be too afraid of heights — especially to ride the very tallest ones.
Although George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. patented the Ferris wheel he built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the vertical wheel ride dates back to the human-powered "pleasure wheels" invented in Bulgaria in the 17th century. The first Ferris wheel had a capacity of 60 riders, had 36 buckets with swiveling seats and was 264 feet (80 meters) in diameter. These days, the technology has blossomed into something with little relation to Ferris's invention — in fact, many of the larger modern wheels are called "observation wheels" because they're not meant to give the rider a fast thrill, but rather a breathtaking 360-degree view of their surroundings. Here's a look at the 10 tallest examples standing in the world today.
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