AMUSEMENT PARKS: THEN AND NOW.

Amusement parks today are filled with bright lights, food, fun, and thrilling rides. But the earliest amusement parks, which appeared in Europe more than 400 years ago, were very different. Some of the attractions were flower gardens, bowling, music, and a few simple rides. By 1884, amusement parks began to get more exciting. That's when the Switchback Gravity Pleasure Railway came to Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1920s, some of the best roller coasters of all time were built. Many large cities had as many as six amusement parks. But the stock market crash and the Great Depression in the 1930s caused many parks to close. In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.