Roller Coasters

June 13, 2009

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Profile America — Saturday, June 13th. With summer almost here, children will be urging their parents to take them to the nearest amusement park. The highlight of these parks are ever more thrilling roller coasters, which trace their roots back to 15th century ice slides in Russia. In the U.S., the first modern roller coaster opened 125 years ago this week at Coney Island, New York. It was built by Lamarcus Thompson and was called “the gravity pleasure switchback railway.” The ride lasted a minute and cost a nickel and reached as high as 6 mph. Now, there are just under 600 theme and amusement parks across the nation and they sell nearly $10 billion worth of tickets annually. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 311
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1191
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html