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Fairmount Park hosts many important landmarks, events and people in 2026. But, 150 years ago, it hosted one of the world’s biggest events – America’s first World’s Fair.
Nearly 10 million visitors attended the fair to experience lots of world-changing inventions – including the typewriter and the sewing machine.
Memorial Hall, which is now home to the Please Touch Museum, was one of the centerpieces of the celebrations.
“It was a place of celebrating innovation as the first World’s Fair on US soil, where people came to see new inventions and discover new things from all across the country and all across the world,” said Melissa Weiler Gerber, the president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum.
“Now, it’s a place that inspires curiosity and creativity and all the little kids who visit us every day.”
She says this was a pivotal moment for America – as it gave the country center stage to showcase innovations and serve as a contender in the industrial world.
As part of the city’s “firstival” celebrations of historic firsts in Philadelphia history, artists have created unique designs for statues shaped in the form of a number one. The firstival statue for this week embodies the innovative spirit of the 1876 fair, said Janice Kim, who designed it.
“I did the Lady Liberty torch because it was a big part of [the fair] and on the other side, I illustrated the first telephone by Alexander Graham Bell and also the first typewriter,” she said.
“I was inspired by the color of the sky, because at the museum, there’s a big view of the sky and also because the Please Touch Museum is for children and it’s very playful, I wanted to use the colors kind of to depict that.”
The U.S. went on to host more than two dozen World Fairs – showcasing everything from Disneyland and the Ford Mustang to touchscreens and the Statue of Liberty.
Celebrating history
This weekend’s firstival event will celebrate the 1876 World Fair’s contribution to industry and innovation that continued to shape the U.S.
Please Touch Museum president and CEO Weiler Gerber said the museum has big plans for Saturday.
“We’ve got a storyteller from Once Upon a Nation, we’ve got some activations for kids and for families, and we’re going to be doing tours of the historic model of the 1876 World’s Fair that is in our lower level, and if people come into the museum, they’re going to be able to see a model of the torch of the Statue of Liberty, which was first displayed at the 1876 World’s Fair,” she said.
This week’s firstival will take place on Saturday, May 23 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Please Touch Museum.
And here is your full guide to all of this year’s firstivals – including where you can find this upcoming Saturday’s Firstival dates and location.
Completed
Week 1: Successful balloon flight in America (1793)
Week 2: The Mummers parade, the nation’s first folk parade (1901)
Week 3: Volunteer fire company (1736)
Week 4: Professional basketball league (1898)
Week 5: Public Girl Scout cookie sale (1932)
Week 6: African Methodist Episcopal congregation (1794)
Week 7: Abolitionist society in America (1775)
Week 8: Authentic Chinese gate built in America (1984)
Week 9: Public protest against slavery in America (1688)
Week 10: Flower Show (1829)
Week 11: Women’s medical college (1850)
Week 12: Matchbook (1892)
Week 13: Medical school (1765)
Week 14: Stadium (1895)
Week 15: Circus performance (1793)
Week 16: Botanical garden (1728)
Week 17: Postmaster (1737)
Week 18: American-made piano and sousaphone (1775 and 1893)
Week 19: Mother’s Day (1908)
Week 20: Hospital in America (1751)
Upcoming
• World’s Fair on American soil (1876)
May 23, Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic
• Steamboat for passengers and freight (1787)
May 30, Independence Seaport Museum, 211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd.
• American flag (1777)
June 6, Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch St.
• U.S. Army (1775)
June 13, Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. 3rd St.
• Annual Reminder demonstration (1965)
June 20, Philly Pride Visitor Center, Lombard St. and S. 12th St.
• Paper maker in America (1690)
June 27, Rittenhouse Town, 6034 Wissahickon Ave.
• Bank of the United States (1791)
July 4, First Bank of the United States, 120 S. 3rd St.
• Organized baseball team (1831)
July 11 (location TBD)
• Ice cream soda (Oct. 1874)
July 18, Franklin Fountain, 116 Market St.
• American art school (1805)
July 25, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118-128 N. Broad St.
• Scientific Society of Natural History (1812)
Aug. 1, at Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• Zoo in America (1874)
Aug. 8, Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Ave.
• U.S. Mint (1793)
Aug. 15 (location TBD)
• Selfie (1839)
Aug. 22, Love Park, 1501 John F Kennedy Blvd.
• Slinky (1943)
Aug. 29, Philadelphia Art Museum, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• Signing of the Constitution (1787)
Sept. 5, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St.
• Continental Congress (1774)
Sept. 12 at Carpenters’ Hall, 320 Chestnut St.
• Naming of the United States (1776)
Sept. 19, Independence Hall
• Ronald McDonald House (1974)
Sept. 26, Ronald McDonald House, 3925 Chestnut St.
• Penitentiary in America (1829)
Oct. 3, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave.
• The First Peoples
Oct. 10, Penn Museum, 3260 South St.
• U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (1775)
Oct. 17, Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch St.
• Public showing of a motion picture (1870)
Oct. 24, Philadelphia Film Society, 1412 Chestnut St.
• Modern detective story written (1841)
Oct. 31, Edgar Allan Poe House, 532 N. 7th St.
• Thanksgiving Day parade in America (1920)
Nov. 7, Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• University in America (1740)
Nov. 14, Houston Hall, The University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.
• Children’s hospital in America (1855)
Nov. 21, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Main Building, 3401 Civic Center Blvd.
• Pencil with an attached eraser (1858)
Nov. 28, National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.
• Weather bureau (1870)
Dec. 5, The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.
• Electronic computer (1945)
Dec. 12, The University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut St.
• Public lending library in America (1731)
Dec. 19, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St.
• Philly food firsts: Cheesesteaks (1930s), water ice (1932) and bubble gum (1928)
Dec. 26, Reading Terminal Market, 1136 Arch St.
