On This Day In History

On June 16, 1884, the first authentic roller coaster opened up in America at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, NY. LaMarcus Thompson designed the Switchback Railway. It was made of two sets of parallel tracks with towers at each end. Passengers would ride one way, then would need to disembark after coming to a stop, climb the tower to board the cars that brought them back. The 600-foot ride would cost a nickel to ride and traveled speeds reaching 6 mph.

By - FZ