Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Roller Coasters

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

For over a century, people have enjoyed the thrill of visiting an amusement park and riding roller coasters. The very first thing we can point to and call a proto-roller coaster had neither rollers nor did it coast. It was more of a slide. Over time, Roller coasters have evolved into massive steel giants, testing the limits of physics and engineering to create thrilling, unique rides that thrill some and terrify others.  Learn more about the history and development of roller coasters on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Stash Go to get.stash.com/EVERYTHING to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase. Newspaper.com Go to Newspapers.com to get a gift subscription for the family historian in your life! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For well over a century, people have enjoyed the thrill of visiting an amusement park and riding roller coasters. The very first thing we can point to and call a proto roller coaster had neither rollers nor did it coast. It was more of a slide. But over time, roller coasters have evolved into massive steel giants, testing the limits of physics and engineering, to create thrilling, unique rides that thrill some and terrify others. Learn more about the history and development of roller coasters on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok. Vaccines are poison.

Then your yoga teacher says that sex traffic children are being sacrificed by satanic liberals. But it's all okay. The Great Awakening is coming. What is happening? Every week on Conspiruality Podcast, we explore the fever dreams that suck friends, family, and wellness gurus down the right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation. Before getting into the history of the roller coaster, let's first define what a roller coaster is. A roller coaster is an amusement park ride with an elevated railroad track that carries riders through turns, drops, and other thrilling elements. The trains are usually open, connected in a line, and pick up and drop off passengers at the same spot.

Roller coasters mainly rely on gravity. Most of their energy comes from being pulled up a hill, gaining potential energy that converts to kinetic energy during the drop, and powers the rest of the ride. Today, there are an estimated 6,000 roller coasters worldwide, mostly in amusement parks, but sometimes in mall, zoos, and other places. The earliest form of roller coasters can be traced back to Russia in the 17th century, where they were known as Russian Mountains. These roller coasters looked very different from our modern steel giants.

They were made from carefully constructed hills. These hills could reach up to 80 feet or 24 meters tall, had 50 degree drops and were usually reinforced with wooden beams. Entertainment pavilions in Russia were only located on lands owned by the Tsar. These buildings were massive rotundas that contained at least five hills. Over the winter, these hills were covered in ice, but in the summer they were still ridable as participants used wheeled trolleys secured with steel grooves to keep the carts on track.

Because of inertia, the cart could ride over all five hills without stopping. In 1817, another early form of roller coaster was built in France. It's possible they got the idea from the Russians after Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia. Located at the historic attraction known as Le Montagnas-Rousse-A Belleville, wheels were placed on carriages before being locked onto a track. Shortly after, another early amusement park, Promenade's Ariens opened. The park improved the carriages and track by making the locks more secure and adding a railing. The railing kept the carriages on track and also allowed to,

faster speeds. The popularity of these early roller coasters in France declined in the mid-1800s. However, they regained popularity in the late 1800s with the reopening of Montenius Russe de Belleville or the Russian Mountains of Belleville. Originally, amusement parks were accessible only to the upper class. This changed in 1845 following the opening of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. Tivoli Gardens, built for middle-class patrons, featured roller coasters as its main attraction, and was accessible to those outside of the upper class. The popularity of roller coasters in the United States can be traced back to scenic railways. The idea to build an amusement park came from a Pennsylvania mining company. The company had built a gravity railroad, which basically moved the

carts by gravity and could be stopped by a man-break to deliver materials in and out of the mine. Realizing they could make money when production was low, the company began offering rides to the public when there was little demand for the carts. This allowed the company to make extra money from thrill seekers. One person who took note of the idea was Lamarcus Adna Thompson. Thompson is considered to be the father of the American roller coaster due to his development of the Gravity Switchback Railway. His first roller coaster for the public was at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Opening in 1884, the ride-head passengers climb onto a platform before riding on a 600-foot track in a bench-like cart. The track met up on the top of another tower, where the tracks were switched,

so the rider could return to the platform, though the original design was later placed with a completely oval circuit. The following year, Philip Hinkle introduced a new roller coaster. This was revolutionary in the coaster world as it was the first to feature a complete circuit. The coaster came with a lift hill, a mechanical device that helps lift the coaster so it can gain speed. Thompson, fearful of being outdone, began to patent his roller coaster designs, while simultaneously making them more extravagant by adding painted scenery and tunnels. Thompson's scenic railways soon appeared in a number of amusement parks across the country. Rollercoasters continued to grow in popularity, and with it came the development of new technologies to keep the passengers' experience

fresh and exciting. A new notable ride experience was the vertical loop, taking passengers upside down, but these early looping roller coasters caused high G-forces and whiplash. Because of the negative side effects, the looping coasters developed in the 1890s were dismantled shortly after their public debut. Looping rides were not attempted again until roughly half a century later. Another technical development in the roller coaster space was the invention of the under-friction wheels. Earlier roller coasters had wheels on the sides of the cart. These side friction wheels rolled along the inner edges of the track, which could be unsafe at

high speeds on an incline. Too much speed could cause the cart to go out of control, and, and throw passengers out. By moving the wheels under the cart, the train was effectively bolted to the track, reducing its likelihood of derailing. Additionally, the development of under-friction wheels did more than improved safety.

It increased roller coaster speeds. Side-friction wheel carts were limited in the amount of velocity they could pick up, whereas the increased security of the track allowed for the under-friction-wheeled carts to avoid that risk. More and more roller coasters were developed in the 1920s, creating what's known as the Golden Age of Roller Coasters.

These rides were wooden and evolved through the period getting larger drops with tighter turns. The most notable roller coaster developed during the Golden Age was the Coney Island Cyclone. Built in 1927, the cyclone was considered the pinnacle of wooden roller coasters. The ride still exists today, with a massive 85-foot drop and speeds up to 60 miles per hour. The Great Depression, however, marked the end of the golden age of roller coasters. Like almost every industry in the 1930s, the amusement park industry was hit hard by the Depression. This in turn put an end to the rapid development of roller coasters for several decades. But that isn't to say there was no development during this slump,

but the number of new technologies created was limited compared to the previous decades. The most significant development during this period took place in 1959. A small company you may have heard of called Disney developed the Matterhorn bobsleds for its park outside of Los Angeles, it called Disneyland. This was the first ride to use a steel track instead of wooden rails. This was monumental for the industry, because steel tracks are more versatile for construction. Wooden rails are made out of, well, wood. Wood can't bend like steel, making it almost impossible to install ride elements like loops and corkscrews. The development of steel tracks also enabled a smoother, quieter ride. This made the experience less terrifying.

for potential customers, attracting more people to the rides. The slump in the roller coaster industry, which began during the Great Depression, finally ended in the 1970s. The industry's recovery can be attributed to the opening of The Racer at Kings Island Amusement Park in Ohio. This ride was popular because the train cars raced each other on two tracks. Interest in the racer ushered in a new roller coaster era known as the Second Golden Age. The Second Golden Age saw engineers further expand roller coaster.

capabilities, particularly through the use of steel construction. Drops were made steeper, turns were banked harder, and rides were made larger. Elements like loops and corkscrews, which engineers had struggled to develop for decades, now became possible. This was due to the new steel tracks and the development of special wheels that hugged the track, reducing the risk of the car falling off should it fail to make the loop. The second golden age of roller coasters is typically said to have ended in the 1990s following the development of mega coasters. This period ushered in what's now known as the modern era. The modern era has continued to see the growth in development of ride elements,

with rides reaching unprecedented heights and speeds. Additionally, new launch systems, different seating options on the ride, and creation of interlocking or multiple loops have been built to give riders new thrilling experiences. One of the most notable new developments is the hybrid coaster. Hybrid roller coasters are rides built with both steel and wood. The track is steel, and the supports are made out of wood. Hybrid roller coasters

have existed since 1927, but have really gained popularity in the 2010s, following the conversion of the Texas Giant into the new Texas Giant in 2011 at Six Flags Over Texas. Contrary to the fears of many, roller coasters are statistically safer than many other activities. Of course, like anything, there's risk when riding roller coasters, and accidents do happen. However, the estimated risk of that occurring to you is roughly 1 in 15.5 million. This is due to the many safety measures ride developers put in place. One of the best examples of these safety measures is seat restraints, such as lap bars, seatbelts, vest, or over-the-shoulder restraints. These help protect the riders from flying out of the ride by keeping them secure. Another notable technology used to protect riders

is the block system. The block system on roller coasters is a safety feature that divides the track into separate segments or blocks, each designed to hold only one train at a time. Every block has its own mechanism for stopping a train, such as brake runs, lift hills, or even mid-course break sections, and sensors monitor when a train enters or leaves it. The principle is similar to railway signaling. A train cannot enter the next block until that block is confirmed to be clear. This allows multiple trains to run simultaneously without risking a collision, since the system can automatically stop a train at the end of its current block if the next one is still occupied. And I think it's fitting to end the episode with some of the records in the roller coaster

world. The oldest operating roller coaster in the world is actually controversial, as there's a distinction between the oldest standing roller coaster and the oldest operating one. The oldest standing roller coaster is a wooden ride called Leap the Dips, which is located at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania. The ride opened in 1902. The ride opened in 1902. Unfortunately, for Leap the Dips, the ride was closed in 2024 and has not reopened. This is mainly due to Lakemont Park not operating any rides in 2024 and 2025. Because of this technicality, the oldest operating roller coaster is the scenic railway at Luna Park in Melbourne, Australia. The ride opened in 1912 and still uses side friction wheels and a brakeman, an employee who literally operates the train's brakes.

The tallest roller coaster in the world is currently Top Thrill 2 located at Cedar Point, Ohio. The ride regained the title of Tallest Roller Coaster following the closure of Kind of Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. Top Thrill 2 is 128 meters or 420 feet tall and reaches speeds of 120 miles per hour or 193 kilometers per hour in just four seconds. The former Kind of Ka roller coaster sat at 456 feet tall and reached speeds of 128 miles per hour. The world's fastest roller coaster is the Formula Rasa located at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. The ride reaches speeds of 149 miles per hour or 240 kilometers per hour in just 4.9 seconds. Both Top Thrill 2 and Formula Rase's titles of tallest and fastest roller coaster will be short-lived following the latest development. in coaster production. A new type of roller coaster classification known as an

XA coaster will be introduced shortly. This new ride will dethrone both of these roller coasters becoming the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in the world. The new roller coaster currently under construction at Six Flags, Kedia, and Saudi Arabia, and set to break all existing records is called Falcon's Flight. Falcon's flight will reach a height of 195 meters or 640 feet and reach speeds of 155 miles or 250 kilometers per hour. The history of roller coasters has had its ups and downs. With the acceleration of new technologies and the pushing of engineering limits, the roller coaster industry has reached new heights and should continue coasting to a successful future.

The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ash. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. This is where everything happens that's outside of the show. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups,

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