16/08/2025
🎢📸 Happy National Roller Coaster Day!
From icy slides in 17th-century Russia to today's record-breaking rides, roller coasters have come a long way. Here's a quick journey through time:
17th Century: The earliest "Russian Mountains" were icy slides that gave thrill-seekers their first rides.
1884: LaMarcus Adna Thompson's gravity coaster at Coney Island marked the birth of the modern amusement ride.
1895: The Flip-Flap Railway introduced the first looping coaster in North America, but its extreme G-forces (up to 14 G's) made it more painful than thrilling.
1902: Leap-The-Dips at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania became the world's oldest operating roller coaster, still running today.
1920: The Scenic Railway at Dreamland Margate is the UK's oldest coaster, still requiring a brakeman to control its speed manually.
Fast forward to today, and the thrill has reached new heights—literally:
2000: Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan became the world’s longest roller coaster at 8,133 ft (2,478 m).
2005: Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey became the world's tallest roller coaster at 456 ft.
2010: Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi set the speed record, launching riders to 149 mph in just 4.9 seconds.
2013: The Smiler at Alton Towers in the UK set the record for the most inversions on a roller coaster: 14 loops.
2025 (Upcoming): Falcon's Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia is set to break all records:
Height: 639.8 ft (195 m)
Drop: 519 ft (158 m)
Speed: 155.3 mph (249.9 km/h)
Length: 13,943.6 ft (4,250 m)
Launch System: Over 700 LSM modules for acceleration
Unique Feature: Utilizes natural cliffs for a dramatic drop
Most the information I got from my own walking talking encyclopedia CUB lol
