The Great Exhibition

Its always amazed me that nothing survives of the great Crystal Palace in which the Great Exhibition of 1851 was held. I remember watching a programme where they rebuilt a small section of the walls and thinking 'why couldn't they have rebuilt this instead of that autrocious millenium dome?'. It was simply and amazing structure, housing some of the most amazing objects and inventions of the time. Truly something for us to live up to today!

So, why am I posting about this today? Well, simply because this month is the 160th anniversary of the exhibition and I believe that is something worth celebrating. So does google, it seems, who produced an amazingly detaled moving logo to commemorate the event.

What I find most interesting about the exhibition is the sheer range and ingenuity of what was exhibited inside it. To give you a glimpse of this wonder, I'd like too highlight a few of the pieces that I loved when I heard about them:

1. Possibly the first-ever voting machine. This had an ingenious system to stop over-voting.
2. The Tempest Prognosticator, also known as the Leech Barometer. 12 leeches were used to ring bells warning of an approaching storm as they became agitated.

3. 

   Leech barometer

   Osler's Crystal Fountain. This was 27 feet high and made fro 4 tons of glass.
4. The Rosetta Stone and various other Egyptian artifacts
5. 40 foot scale model of the London dockyards with 1600 miniture ships
6. Household furniture made of coal

What is your favourite thing about The Great Exhibition?
What would you put in a Great Exhibition today?