Happy National Roller Coaster Day! Each year on August 16, people flock to amusement parks for a thrill, a few exciting screams, and to celebrate today. Take a ride on a roller coaster near you!
The day commemorates the first dual-tracked vertical loop steel roller coaster Loop the Loop. It was designed by Edwin A. Green and manufactured and patented by Edwin Prescott on this day in 1898.
The coaster operated on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, from 1901 to 1910. It was one of the first looping roller coasters in North America.
A roller coaster consists of one or multiple cars on a track.
While they are similar to railroad systems in design, the inclines and vertical loops incorporated in the structures aren’t for transportation. These elements boost the thrills rollercoaster enthusiasts seek!
The oldest roller coasters are believed to have originated from the so-called “Russian Mountains.”
Built-in the 17th century, these specially constructed hills of ice located near Saint Petersburg, Russia rose between seventy and eighty feet in height. Passengers faced fifty-degree drops. Wooden supports supplied reinforcement.
Roller coaster designs existed since at least 1872 when J.G. Taylor received one of the earliest patents. He called his creation an inclined railway.
Another patent granted for an inclined-plane railway was granted to Richard Knudsen in 1878.
For years, history has believed the first roller coaster in America opened at Coney Island on June 16, 1884. However, tracing American inventor J.G. Taylor’s patent and newspaper articles tells us a different story.
According to the Providence Evening Press dated June 1872, Taylor’s elevated railway at Rocky Point, Rhode Island extended four hundred feet and gave nine passengers a ride. It all started with a shove, allowing gravity to do the rest.
While Prescott’s patent detailed ways to improve upon structures such as Taylor’s and that built at Coney Island, it was Prescott’s designs that led to the roller coasters we know today.
It was his design gave riders a reason to scream and keep coming back for the rush of excitement.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Celebrate by visiting an amusement park near you. While enjoying a roller coaster ride or two, also check out some roller coaster history.
Be sure to check out the science behind the structures and the gravity-defying curves. Seek out some of the most thrilling roller coasters in the country and world!
If you cannot get to a roller coaster, make plans for your next roller coaster adventure! Use #RollerCoasterDay to post on social media.
Since 1986, National Roller Coaster Day has been celebrated. American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) promotes the day across the country and through amusement parks with events.
Visit the website below for list of participating roller coasters near you.
What is your favorite roller coaster?
#NationalRollerCoasterDay
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