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Charles Pappas
World Expo Historian & Consultant

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Heads Up
Back in 1889, many countries — Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden...
4 days ago1 min read


The Big Time
From 200-foot-tall thermometers to 15-ton stoves, massive versions of everyday objects have long been a staple of exhibitions to draw...
4 days ago1 min read


The Original Facebook
The next time you’re asked to produce your photo ID, you can thank (or blame) the 1876 World Expo in Philadelphia. From the very first...
Jul 11 min read


Chart and Soul
Organized by sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Exhibit of American Negroes” at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris contained 363...
Jun 241 min read


Mr. Robot
Bandai Namco Holdings built a "Gundam Pavilion" at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka including a 17-meter-tall statue of a robot. Gundam is...
Jun 181 min read


Melts in Your Booth, Not in Your Hand
Food is a huge part of the world expo experience. In Osaka, you’ll be able to try everything from Oktoberfest beers to eel pie on top of...
May 281 min read


Here Comes the Sun
Many of the pavilions at Expo 2025 look like they belong in a remake of “Blade Runner,” with designs and devices straight out of science...
May 271 min read


The Iron Giant
One of the most overwhelming encounters you’ll have at Expo 2025 in Osaka is with the 17-meter-tall statue of Gundam, one of the famed...
May 271 min read


Monster Mash
World expos can be monster-sized – so it makes sense that some would actually have monsters. At Expo ’70 in Osaka, Asia's first world's...
May 271 min read


Don’t Fear the Reaper
Corporations have been a major part of world expos almost as much as countries. (Just take a look take a look at the Panasonic,...
May 271 min read


Every Picture Tells a Story
A forgotten Art Nouveau master, French painter Georges de Feure showed his work in the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1900, with...
May 271 min read


Meat and Greet
Soon after Cincinnati opened its first large-scale meatpacking plant in 1818, the Ohio city became famed as "Porkopolis." So prominent...
May 271 min read


Sleigh in Your Lane
Chicago had long been famous at Christmas time for the glittering displays in Marshall Field's department store windows. But just a few...
May 271 min read


Wonder Women
In the history of World Expos there have been three official women’s pavilions before Expo 2025. The first was at the1876 Expo in...
May 271 min read


Face the Music
When Queen Victoria visited the Crystal Place on the opening day of the first World’s Fair —the Great Exhibition — in 1851, Her Majesty...
May 261 min read


Bath and Body Works
I had to laugh when I saw the Panasonic Group’s pavilion for Expo 2025 in Osaka. When you visit the pavilion— aka “The Land of NOMO” —...
May 262 min read


Due Process
Humans are hardwired to notice light, sound, and motion, and by extension, process, “a series of actions or steps taken in order to...
Jun 16, 20221 min read


The Girl with All the Gifts
Known as the “Exposition Girl” for inspiring 1,500 sculptures at San Francisco’s 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition (PPIE),...
Jun 16, 20221 min read


The Iron Giant
Models of physical objects never fascinate as much as when they are displayed in versions much smaller or much more gigantic than normal....
Jun 16, 20221 min read


What Goes Up ...
Product demos have been an integral part of world fair and trade show since the very first world’s fair -The Great Exhibition of the...
Jun 16, 20221 min read
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