The 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World. "
It opened on May 1, 1982, and closed on October 31, 1982 after receiving over 11 million visitors. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Participating nations included Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United States, and West Germany. Panama never occupied its pavilion space, which was eventually occupied by a group of Caribbean Island nations.
A TV station was built just for the fair, KM2XKA on Channel 7 with World's Fair info for Knoxville viewers. Today it belongs to DTV-only WMAK, an independent station. Digital television (DTV is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete ( digital) signals in contrast to the analog signals used by WMAK, channel 7 is a digital Television station serving the Knoxville Tennessee area
The fair was constructed on a 70-acre site between downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee (also known as UT) sometimes called the University of Tennessee Knoxville ( UT Knoxville, or UTK) is the flagship The Sunsphere, a 266-foot steel tower topped with a five-story bronze globe, was built for the 1982 World's Fair. The Sunsphere, in Knoxville, Tennessee, is an high Hexagonal Steel Truss structure topped with a gold-colored glass Sphere Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus It still stands and remains a symbol for the city of Knoxville.
In 2007, the East Tennessee Historical Society opened an exhibit commemorating the 25th anniversary of the World's Fair. The East Tennessee Historical Society ( ETHS) located in Knoxville Tennessee, USA is a Non-profit organization dedicated to the study of East Tennessee
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Genesis of the World's Fair
The idea for a World's Fair in Knoxville came from a visit to Spokane, Washington, in 1974 that touted the benefits of the Expo for the city. Expo (short for "exposition" and also known as World Fair and World's Fair) is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the Stewart Evans, president of the Downtown Knoxville association came up with the idea. He brought it to the city and the mayor.
Knoxville Mayor Kyle Testerman appointed banker Jake Butcher to lead an exploratory committee on the fair, and Butcher served as the driving force behind the fair. Kyle C Testerman (born 1935 was Mayor of Knoxville Tennessee from 1972 to 1975, and again from 1984 to 1987. Jacob Franklin "Jake" Butcher (born in 1936 was a US banker and Politician who built a financial empire in Many Knoxvillians called it "Jake's Fair. "[1]
This was the second World's Fair to be held in Tennessee, the first being the Tennessee Centennial Exposition of 1897, held in Nashville. The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition was a World's Fair staged between May 1 and October 31 of 1897 in Nashville.
Opening day
On 1 May 1982, the 1982 World's Fair opened with the Theme "Energy Turns the World". Across the United States, people had been bombarded with commercials: "You've Got To Be There" became the call for people to journey that summer to Tennessee. The opening ceremony was broadcast on local and regional TV, with President Ronald Reagan arriving to open the fair. TV personality Dinah Shore was the mistress of ceremonies, and artists such as Porter Waggoner and Ricky Scaggs performed as the gates were opened on Knoxville's Fair. Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore February 29, 1916 - February 24, 1994) was an American Singer, Actress Porter Wayne Wagoner ( August 12, 1927 &ndash October 28, 2007) was an American Country music singer Ricky Scaggs (born Richard Scaglione, September 4, 1957, in Yonkers New York, USA) is an American Punk
180 days of fun
The fair drew over 11 million visitors, making it one of the most popular world's fairs in U. S. history, and even turned a small profit ($57), but short of the projected $5 million surplus. [2]
The most popular exhibits at the fair were those by China, Peru and Egypt. The Peruvian exhibit featured a mummy which was unwrapped and studied at the fair. The Egyptian exhibit featured ancient artifacts valued at over thirty million dollars. [3]
Difficulties with the fair
The biggest problem associated with the fair was that local hotels and other accommodations were not allowed to take reservations directly for rooms during the fair. Room reservations for everything from hotels to houseboats sold in a package with fair admission tickets through the first 11 days of the fair were handled by a central bureau, Knoxvisit, but financial and administrative troubles pushed reservations to be taken over by PLM[4], which itself filed for bankruptcy[5] and was mired in its own difficulties. [6]
After the fair
In 1991, the city of Knoxville demolished the U. S. Pavilion in a controlled blast. The cleared site became a parking lot along Cumberland Avenue. The former site of the Korean and Saudi Arabian pavilions and the Tennessee Gas Industries exhibit became host to a regular concert series for eight years.
In 2000, the park was closed for two years while a convention center was added in the space formerly occupied by Rich's/Millers Garage, the KUB Substation and the former site of America's Electric Energy Exhibit.
In 2002, the World's Fair Park was reopened to general events and concerts, such as Earth Fest and Greek Fest. A Greek festival or Greek Fest is an annual celebration of Greek culture presented by many ethnic Greek American communities and organization in the
The Sunsphere's observation deck reopened to the public in 2007.
The fair in popular culture
The fair was mentioned twice in The Simpsons. In the 1993 episode "Cape Feare," Homer smokes a Knoxville World's Fair cigar in the movie theatre. " Cape Feare " is the second episode of The Simpsons ' fifth season, which premiered on the Fox network on October 7 Homer Jay Simpson is a main fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. On the Season 5 audio commentary for this episode, showrunner Al Jean comments that 1982 was a terrible world's fair. Al Jean (born January 9, 1961 Detroit Michigan) is a Television comedy writer best known for his work on The Simpsons In the episode entitled "Bart on the Road," Bart, Milhouse, Nelson and Martin take a trip to Knoxville under the belief that the World's Fair is still in progress, on the advice of a 1982 AAA guidebook, choosing Knoxville over Disney World. " Bart on the Road " is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons ' seventh season. Bartholomew J "Bart" Simpson is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons "Milhouse" redirects here For other uses see Milhous. Nelson Muntz, is a Fictional character from the Animated TV series The Simpsons. Martin Prince Jr is a recurring character in the FOX animated series The Simpsons, and is voiced by Russi Taylor. Walt Disney World Resort is the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world containing four Theme parks two Water parks twenty-three themed hotels They arrive to find the Sunsphere now being used as storage for a wig store. Subsequently, Nelson knocks it over when he throws a rock at it.
Seven arcade tokens were minted for the 1982 World's Fair, each depicting a different arcade game. These tokens were given out at the arcade at the World's Fair itself. The seven games on each of the tokens are Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Qix, Gorf, Scramble, and Donkey Kong. is an Arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution Ms Pac-Man is an arcade Video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. is an arcade Video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978 Qix (pronounced /kɪks/ is an Arcade game, released by Taito America Corporation in 1981. Gorf is an Arcade game released in 1981 by Midway Mfg, whose name was advertised as an acronym for "Galactic Orbiting Robot Force" Scramble is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up, Arcade game. is an Arcade game developed by Nintendo, and released in. It is an early example of the platform genre as the Gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main Each of these games was very popular at the time. A special Coke pin given to 500 dignitaries on opening day is the most prized pin from the fair.
New inventions
The Knoxville World's Fair debuted several new inventions, including touch screen display screens, boxed milk, and the Cherry Coke flavor by Coca-Cola. A Touch Screen is a display which can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area Coca-Cola Cherry is produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company's bottlers. Coca-Cola is a carbonated Soft drink sold in stores restaurants and Vending machines in more than 200 countries Petro's also debuted at the 1982 World's Fair. Petro's Chili & Chips is a small Fast-food chain specialising in the Petro, a mixture of Corn chips chili, Cheese, Green onions [2]
See also
References
- ^ TN Encyclopedia: KNOXVILLE WORLD'S FAIR OF 1982
- ^ Associated Press, 1982 WORLD'S FAIR SHOWS $57 PROFIT, February 3, 1985, Page F11, Philadelphia Inquirer
- ^ 1982 World's Fair Research Site, by Bruce Schulman
- ^ UPI, Tennessee Sues World's Fair For 3,500 Tourists' Refunds, The New York Times, December 12, 1982
- ^ OLYMPIC-SIZE TASK: Committee faces challenge in managing hotel bookings, The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, October 15, 1991, page C1
- ^ [1]
External links
- 1982 World's Fair Research Site, by Bruce Schulman
- World's Fair 20th anniversary retrospective, Knoxville News Sentinel, 2002
- The 1982 World's Fair in photos - www.worldsfairphotos.com
- 1982 World's Fair 25th Anniversary site
- Tennessee Encyclopedia article
- ExpoMuseum's 1982 World's Fair Section
| Preceded by Expo '74 |
World Expositions 1982 |
Succeeded by 1984 Louisiana World Exposition |
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