The first U.S. patent for a carousel was issued to Willhelm Schneider of Davenport, Iowa (117,336). It was described as a two-story "'carrousel' or rotary pavillion used in public parks or other places of amusement." A staircase within the central supporting frame enabled access to the upper story. Radial partitions could provide separate "apartments" with a sofa, imitation horse or other seats. It could be turned by a person or other apparatus. However, it was not very practical or successful. Carousels had been popular for a long time. The earliest* on record was at a fair held at Philippopolis, Turkey on 17 May 1620. The first* on record in England was at the St. Bartholomew Fair in 1729.

A hovercraft crossed the English Channel for the first time. Having been shipped to France by tender, the world's first all metal hovercraft, SR.N1, crossed the Channel between Calais and Dover in 2 hours 3 minutes on 25th July with Captain Peter Lamb piloting, Mr John Chaplin as navigator and the inventor, Mr. (later Sir) Christopher Cockerell in his own words as 'moveable ballast' on board. It was 50 years to the day that Louis Blériot made the first crossing of the Dover Strait by aeroplane.