The Fair
The fair drew over 11 million visitors, making it one of the most popular world's fairs in US history, and even turned a small profit ($57), but short of the projected $5 million surplus. Knoxville itself was left with a $46 million debt.
Participating nations included Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United States, and West Germany. Panama never occupied its pavilion space, which was eventually occupied by a group of Caribbean Island nations.
The Peruvian exhibit featured a mummy that was unwrapped and studied at the fair. The Egyptian exhibit featured ancient artifacts valued at over thirty million dollars. Hungary, the home country of the Rubik's Cube, sent a large, automated Rubik's Cube with rotating squares for the entrance to its pavilion. The cube is still present in downtown Knoxville, where it has been displayed in the Knoxville Convention Center. Every night of the fair, at 10 pm, a 10-minute fireworks display was presented that could be seen over much of Knoxville.
A TV station, KM2XKA on Channel 7, was built for the fair, initially specializing in World's Fair information. It later converted to DTV-only WMAK, an independent station.
Read more about this topic: 1982 World's Fair
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