The inventor of the Ferris wheel, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., was born 154 years ago today. Google, true to form, pays homage in a whimsical Doodle of two Ferris wheels spinning on the backdrop of an amusement park at night. A magnifying glass will take you to the results page for "George Ferris;" a heart button will spin the wheels and stop both randomly.
In the spirit of Valentine's Day, when the wheels stop, the occupants of two cars (always two cartoon animals) will lock eyes across the chasm. A short comic or illustration will follow, showing their subsequent date.
The monkey and the elephant shake down at a disco (their fellow partiers are a turtle and goose couple and a bear-rhino pair); the horse and tiger look at the moon and hold ... paws and hooves (this could be a reference to the Chinese zodiac, where the horse and tiger are said to be compatible); the squirrel plays a banjo — badly — and serenades a chameleon, who awkwardly camouflages itself. Other possibilities include a frog, a goose and a rhino, among others.
The rest, you can see for yourself on Google's homepage, though it might take many tries to see all the possible results. You can browse older Doodles here.
Once you've finished playing with the Doodle, you'll be able to learn a few things about George Ferris — Google reveals that he was an American engineer who badly wanted to leave his own mark on the world after seeing the Eiffel Tower. Ferris created his wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, but he was slammed with numerous patent infringement lawsuits.
Ferris managed to fend those off, but he died in 1896, only a few years later. He was 37 then, but despite his short life, Ferris's legacy lives on in amusement parks worldwide. The most famous wheel is the London Eye, which towers more than 400 feet over the River Thames. The Singapore Flyer holds the distinction of being the tallest since its construction in 2008, standing at 541 feet.
