What was the greatest World's Fair in history?

Some of these left a tower or a dome behind; others left a demolition bill. A century and a half of countries showing off.

1. 1
   World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893

   The White City, the first Ferris wheel, and the template for American civic architecture.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis 1904

   A fair so large it swallowed the Olympic Games held alongside it.
   733pts
3. 3
   Expo 2020, Dubai

   Delayed a year by the pandemic, then staged as the region's largest event.
   622pts
4. 4
   Expo 70, Osaka

   Japan's arrival as a design superpower, with the Tower of the Sun at its centre.
   551pts
5. 5
   Exposition Universelle, Paris 1900

   Fifty million visitors, the first Metro line and the Grand Palais, all opening at once.
   466pts
6. 6
   Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco 1915

   The city's announcement that it had rebuilt itself after the 1906 earthquake.
   466pts
7. 7
   New York World's Fair 1964

   The Unisphere, It's a Small World, and a generation's first look at the computer age.
   466pts
8. 8
   Expo 92, Seville

   Spain's coming-out party, sharing 1992 with the Barcelona Olympics.
   466pts
9. 9
   Expo 2010, Shanghai

   The most visited world's fair ever held, with more than 70 million admissions.
   466pts
10. 10
    New York World's Fair 1939

    The World of Tomorrow, the Trylon and Perisphere, and television's public debut.
    363pts
11. 11
    Century 21 Exposition, Seattle 1962

    Left the Space Needle and the monorail standing over the city.
    363pts
12. 12
    Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs, Paris 1925

    The fair that gave art deco both its look and its name.
    363pts
13. 13
    The Great Exhibition, London 1851

    The first of them all, staged inside Paxton's Crystal Palace and funded so well it built South Kensington's museums.
    0pts
14. 14
    Exposition Universelle, Paris 1889

    The centenary of the revolution, and the fair that left the Eiffel Tower behind as its entrance arch.
    0pts
15. 15
    Century of Progress, Chicago 1933

    A depression-era fair that turned modernism into popular entertainment.
    0pts
16. 16
    Expo 58, Brussels

    The first post-war fair, crowned by the Atomium and the space race in miniature.
    0pts
17. 17
    Expo 67, Montreal

    Buckminster Fuller's biosphere and Habitat 67, the most admired fair of the modern era.
    0pts
18. 18
    Exposition Internationale, Paris 1937

    Remembered for the German and Soviet pavilions glaring at each other, and for Picasso's Guernica.
    0pts

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