History of the Roller Coaster

The history of the roller coaster begins with the oldest roller coaster built back in the 17^th century in St. Petersburgh, Russia which were hills that were constructed using ice and the slides were seventy feet and eighty feet with a fifty degree drop and supported with wood.

At a mining company in Summit Hill, Pennsylvania back in 1827, the Mauch Chunk Gravity Railroad was built and controlled by a brake-man. This railroad was used for coal delivery to Mauch Chunk, Pennsylania which today is known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and in the 1850's the railroad became known as Gravity Road and was giving rides down the tracks for fifty cents.

When the excitement about roller coasters began to grow more popular, many experiments in the dynamics of them began. In the 1880s the idea to add on a vertical loop to a roller coaster was approached and in 1895 the idea came to life. The first roller coaster to have a full vertical flip was The Flip Flap which is located at Sea Lion Park in Brooklyn. Not long after that another roller coaster with a verticla loop was introduced, Loop-the-Loop at Olentangy Park near Columbus, Ohio. The rides were very dangerous, causing many of the passengers to suffer whiplash so both of the roller coasters were torn down and vertical loop roller coasters disappeared until their rebirth a half of a century later.

In 1912, John Miller created the very first underfriction roller coaster, and not long afterwards, coasters began popping up in amusement parks around the globe. When the Great Depression arrived, roller coasters began to die down as well as theme parks, but by 1912, another roller coaster which was designed by John Allen, appeared at Kings Island located in Mason, Ohio. The success of this new roller coaster brought back their popularity once again.

The Cyclone which opened up at Coney Island in 1927, is possibly the most popular and best known historical coaster. The oldest operating side-friction roller coaster is the Leap-The-Dips located in Lakemont Park, Pennyslvania. built in 1902. The Scenic Railway at Dreamland Amusement Park in Margate, Kent UK is the location of the oldest operating wooden roller coaster. The very first roller coaster to reach up to 100 feet was the Cyclone at Revere Beach in Revere Massachusetts back in 1925. The very first roller coaster to have an underwater tunnel is The Mine Train which is located at Six Flags over Texas which was back in 1966. In 1976, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, was the first up to date roller coaster to feature a vertical loop called Revolution. Also in 1976, Corkscrew at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio was the first roller coaster to feature three inversions.

The first roller coaster comprised of steel was introduced in 1959 at DisneyLand. The Matterhorn Bobsleds were the first ever roller coasters to have tubular steel track. 1992

The veryfirst inverted roller coaster was introduced back in 1992 called Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure. The Corkscrew roller coaster which was the very first up to date coaster to feature two inverting elements is located in Buena Park, California and appeared in 1975 at Knott's Berry Farm and in 1976 added three loops and vertical loops made a comeback in 1976 at Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita, California with the Great American Revolution roller coaster. In 1980, the first roller coaster to feature four inversions is the Carolina Cyclone located in both North and South Carolina. The roller coaster to feature five inversions is the Viper back in 1982 in Darien Lake, Darien, New York. The first roller coaster to feature six inversions and to travel the track in reverse is the Vortex at Kins Island and opened in 1987. The first coaster to add seven inversions is the Shockwave back in 1988 at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. An eight inversion roller coaster appeared in 1995 in Salou, Spain at Port Aventura called Dragon Khan. A ten inversions roller coaster appeared in 2002 called Colossus and is located in Thorpe Park, Chertsey, Surrey, United Kingdom. The first suspended coaster appeared in 1981 at Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio called The Bat.

Sources:

Wikipedia.com