The theme of the 1933 fair was technological innovation
It's motto was: "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts".
Later fairs took on very utopian sounding theme's: "Building The World of Tomorrow" (New York, 1939–40), "Peace Through Understanding" (New York, 1964–65) and "Man and His World" (Montreal, 1967)
Here's what's interesting about the 1933 fair...
The fair was to open with great excitement when rays of light from the star Arcturus in the constellation Bootes reached a photoelectric sensor that sent an electrical signal to automatically light up the the entire fair grounds!
Photoelectric sensors were big news in the 1930s. Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the photo electric effect in 1921. Contrary to popular belief, Albert Einstein did not receive any Nobel prizes for his work on relativity or his more famous E=MC Squared equation.. :-(
The star Arcturus was chosen because scientists estimated the light detected had left the star 40 years earlier, about the last time Chicago hosted the world's fair in 1893.
When a reporter asked someone what he thought about using the light from the star Arcturus to open the fair, his response was, "Wow, That's incredible, but how did the scientist know the name of that star?" :-)
During a World's Fair or World Expo's a majority of the structures are temporary and dismantled at the end of the end of the Expo. Towers from several of these fairs are notable exceptions... By far the most famous of these is the Eiffel Tower, built for the Exposition Universelle (1889), which is now the most recognized symbol of its host city Paris.
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