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

World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893

The White City, the first Ferris wheel, and the template for American civic architecture.

1000pts

2

Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis 1904

A fair so large it swallowed the Olympic Games held alongside it.

733pts

3

Expo 2020, Dubai

Delayed a year by the pandemic, then staged as the region's largest event.

622pts

4

Expo 70, Osaka

Japan's arrival as a design superpower, with the Tower of the Sun at its centre.

551pts

5

Exposition Universelle, Paris 1900

Fifty million visitors, the first Metro line and the Grand Palais, all opening at once.

466pts

6

Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco 1915

The city's announcement that it had rebuilt itself after the 1906 earthquake.

466pts

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

Expo 92, Seville

Spain's coming-out party, sharing 1992 with the Barcelona Olympics.

466pts

9

Expo 2010, Shanghai

The most visited world's fair ever held, with more than 70 million admissions.

466pts

10

New York World's Fair 1939

The World of Tomorrow, the Trylon and Perisphere, and television's public debut.

363pts

11

Century 21 Exposition, Seattle 1962

Left the Space Needle and the monorail standing over the city.

363pts

12

Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs, Paris 1925

The fair that gave art deco both its look and its name.

363pts

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.

233pts

14

Exposition Universelle, Paris 1889

The centenary of the revolution, and the fair that left the Eiffel Tower behind as its entrance arch.

233pts

15

Century of Progress, Chicago 1933

A depression-era fair that turned modernism into popular entertainment.

233pts

16

Expo 58, Brussels

The first post-war fair, crowned by the Atomium and the space race in miniature.

233pts

17

Expo 67, Montreal

Buckminster Fuller's biosphere and Habitat 67, the most admired fair of the modern era.

233pts

18

Exposition Internationale, Paris 1937

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

233pts