Amusement parks were popular up until the 1700's in medieval Europe on pleasure gardens.  The world's oldest operating amusement park residing in Europe:  Bakken, north of Copenhagen, which opened in 1583.

    Amusement parks in America soon came into the scene in the late 1800's.  After the American Civil War, trolleys came into play.  Many of the trolley trails ended at the shores of lakes or rivers, where they were amusement parks rides free of charge.

    In 1893, George Ferris introduced a Ferris wheel for the World Fair in Chicago.  It was a big hit and Captain Paul Boynton decided to opened "Paul Boynton's Water Chutes" on Chicago's South side, the first modern amusement park in the world, a year later for profit.  Afterwards in 1895, he also opened Sea Lion Park in Coney Island in New York.  The amusement park industry grew more and more, with all the new innovations.

    There were things that hurt the industry.  When the Depression came into the picture in 1929, the number of amusement parks dropped drastically.  In 1919 there were over 1,500; by 1935 there were only about 400 left.  Once World War II ended, amusement parks prospered again. 

Eventually people got tired of amusement parks.  Then Disney Land was created in 1955, with a variety of themes of different times and lands.  Another successful theme park was opened in 1961, Six Flags in Texas.