It’s been a very busy time for the Google homepage which has seen no less than three bespoke Google Doodles in the past seven days. Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 160th World’s Fair Expo and like many of the best Doodle’s of the past is completely interactive.
The first World’s Fair was held in 1851 with its opening day falling on the 1st May, Prince Albert was the catalyst behind the first fair which took place in Hyde Park’s Crystal Palace. Google has marked the first event by showcasing the venue in the centre of today’s Doodle.
Features of the Doodle
If you mouse over the scenery a magnifying glass allows browsers to take a closer look at all the different attractions which from the outset appear to be static. If you take a look at the clock above Koh-i-noor (the world’s largest diamond at the time) you will notice you can see the clockwork mechanism inside.
The first event showcased different cultures precious items and technological advancements such as the earliest fax machine and a machine that showed how cotton was worked from raw materials to finished cotton thread.
Incredibly 6 million people visited the exposition, to put that in perspective that was one third of the entire population at the time. The £186,000 profit from the show was used to build the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum and The Natural History Museum which shows how important the expo was for British culture both at the time and today.
One of the more trivial, yet important features were the public conveniences, George Jennings installed the first public WC’s for which he charged patrons a penny to use which is where the term ‘I’m off to spend a penny’ originated.
