1884: The first gravity roller coaster designed and built specifically as an amusement ride opens at Coney Island, New York. It is a commercial success and leads to the building of roller coasters all over the world.
LaMarcus Adna Thompson's Coney Island coaster, which, for a nickel ($1.15 in today's money), hurtled passengers down an undulating 600-foot-long track at speeds up to a blistering 6 mph, would hardly be recognizable to riders of modern-day roller coasters.
