Editing Century of Progress (section)

==Context==
[[File:1933 Century of Progress Opening Day Ticket.jpg|thumb|left|Ticket for the opening day ceremonies at Soldier Field]]

A Century of Progress was organized as an Illinois nonprofit corporation in January 1928 for the purpose of planning and hosting a World's Fair in Chicago in 1934. City officials designated three and a half miles of newly reclaimed land along the shore of Lake Michigan between 12th and 39th streets on the [[Near South Side, Chicago|Near South Side]] for the fairgrounds.<ref>Schrenk, Lisa D. (2007). ''Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair''[[University of Minnesota Press]]. p. 4. {{ISBN|978-0816648368}}.</ref> Held on a {{convert|427|acre|km2}} portion of [[Burnham Park (Chicago)|Burnham Park]], the $37,500,000 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|37500000|1933|fmt=c}} today) exposition was formally opened on May 27, 1933, by U.S. Postmaster General [[James Farley]] at a four-hour ceremony at [[Soldier Field]].<ref>''Chicago Fair Opened by Farley; Rays of Arcturus Start Lights. Postmaster General Conveys President's Hope That Exposition Will Help Friendship Among Nations—First Day's Attendance Estimated at About 250,000''. ''The New York Times'', May 28, 1933, p. 1</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Chicago and Suburbs 1939| publisher=[[Works Progress Administration]]| year=1939| pages=105}}</ref> The fair's opening night began with a nod to the heavens. Lights were automatically activated when the rays of the star [[Arcturus]] were detected. The star was chosen as its light had started its journey at about the time of the previous Chicago world's fair—the [[World's Columbian Exposition]]—in 1893.<ref>{{cite web| title=Century of Progress World's Fair, 1933–1934| publisher=University of Illinois-Chicago| date=January 2008| url=http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/uic_cop&CISOPTR=45&CISOBOX=1&REC=1| access-date=September 6, 2009| archive-date=July 18, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718172256/http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fuic_cop&CISOPTR=45&CISOBOX=1&REC=1| url-status=live}}</ref> The rays were focused on [[photoelectric cell]]s in a series of astronomical observatories and then transformed into electrical energy which was transmitted to Chicago.<ref name="II2005">{{cite book| first=Jordan D.| last=Marche II| title=Theaters of Time and Space: American Planetaria, 1930–1970| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olT1ipj-EboC&pg=PP3| access-date=September 3, 2012| date=June 8, 2005| publisher=Rutgers University Press| isbn=978-0-8135-3576-0| page=80| archive-date=April 25, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425043653/https://books.google.com/books?id=olT1ipj-EboC&pg=PP3| url-status=live}}</ref>