12/30/2023 0 Comments Mccormick reaper inventionThe total number of exhibitors was about 17,000, with the United States sending 599. The Great Exhibition was designed to showcase technology and new products from Britain and its colonies, but to give it a truly international flavor, half the exhibits were from other nations. According to some accounts, she made more than 30 visits to the Crystal Palace between May and October. However, Queen Victoria was fascinated by the Great Exhibition and returned to it repeatedly, usually bringing her children. Queen Victoria, in a pink formal gown suited to an official court occasion, declared the Great Exhibition to be open.Īfter the ceremony, the royal family returned to Buckingham Palace. The Archbishop of Canterbury then called for God's blessing upon the exhibition, and a 600-voice choir sang Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus. It was estimated that more than a half-million spectators watched the royal procession move through the streets of London.Īs the royal family stood on a carpeted platform in the center hall of the Crystal Palace, surrounded by dignitaries and foreign ambassadors, Prince Albert read a formal statement about the purpose of the event. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert rode in a procession from Buckingham Palace to the Crystal Palace to personally open the Great Exhibition. The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was officially opened with an elaborate ceremony at noon on May 1, 1851. Visitors to the Crystal Palace were amazed to discover all the inventions of the modern world displayed in one spectacular building. In second-floor galleries devoted to "philosophical, musical, and surgical instruments" were displays of items ranging from pipe organs to microscopes. There were also early steam tractors and steam-powered machines to grind grain. In a hall of agricultural devices were displays of plows which had been mass-produced of cast iron. Spectators stood transfixed, watching spinning machines and power looms manufacture fabric before their eyes. Part of the enormous "Machines in Motion" hall contained all the complicated machines that turned raw cotton into finished cloth. Spacious galleries devoted to "Manufacturing Machines and Tools" displayed power drills, stamping machines, and a large lathe used to shape the wheels for railroad cars. The Great Western Railway displayed a locomotive. The Crystal Palace was filled with an astonishing amount of items, and perhaps the most amazing sights were within the huge galleries devoted to new technology.Ĭrowds flocked to see gleaming steam engines designed to be used aboard ships or in factories. The building was deemed safe for the public. No panes of glass broke loose as the soldiers marched about in lockstep. Prince Albert, exercising his royal privilege, had detachments of soldiers march through the various galleries before the exhibit opened. Nothing like the Crystal Palace had ever been built, and skeptics predicted that wind or vibration would cause the colossal structure to collapse. Some of the park's stately trees were too big to move, so the enormous building simply enclosed them. The Crystal Palace was 1,848 feet long and 454 feet wide and covered 19 acres of London's Hyde Park. Designed by architect Joseph Paxton, the building itself was a marvel. The building to house the exhibit, which was quickly dubbed the Crystal Palace, was constructed of prefabricated cast iron and panes of plate glass. Other nations were invited to participate, and the official name of the show was The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. But the man who ensured the event happened in spectacular fashion was Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.Īlbert recognized the value of organizing a massive trade show that would place Britain at the forefront of technology by displaying its latest inventions, everything from massive steam engines to the latest cameras. The idea of the Great Exhibition originated with Henry Cole, an artist, and inventor.
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