July 25 is a day associated with carnival music and children’s laughter as we annually celebrate National Merry-Go-Round Day.
The merry-go-round (also known as a carousel) is an amusement ride that consists of a rotating circular platform with seats on it for its riders. Its seats are traditionally in rows and are made up of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts. Many of they animals are made to move up and down to stimulate galloping and are accompanied by circus music.
Names of the animals normally consist of Galloper, Jumper, Roundabout, Horseabout and Flying Horses.
Any rotating platform may also be called a merry-go-round. On a playground, it is usually a child-powered rotating platform with bars or handles to which children can cling while riding.
- The earliest known depiction of the merry-go-round is in 500 A.D. in the Byzantine Empire, which depicts baskets, carrying riders, suspended from a central pole.
- In the 1840s, Franz Wiesenoffer created the first merry-go-round in the United States in Hessville, Ohio.
- July 25, 1871 – The first carousel patent.
HOW TO OBSERVE
To celebrate, find a merry-go-round and have fun. They are not just for the kids, and there is a kid in all of us! Post on social media using #MerryGoRoundDay.
HISTORY
July 25 was chosen as the celebration day for National Merry-Go-Round Day as it coincides with the first United States patent that was issued for the modern carousel. That patent was awarded to William Schneider of Davenport Iowa on July 25, 1871.
