Carousel (original) (raw)
This article is about the fairground ride. We also have an article on Carousel, the stage musical.
A carousel is a fairground ride consisting of a rotating platform with seats for passengers. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of horses, which are moved mechanically up and down to simulate galloping. This leads to the machine's alternative name, the galloper. Another popular name is the merry-go-round.
Records of early carousels are known from the Byzantine empire. The first steam-powered carousels began to appear in Europe in 1860, and then in England and the USA in 1870.
Any rotating platform may also be called a carousel.