Today in History: The First Roller Coaster

On this day (June 16) in 1884 the Switchback Railway (the first roller coaster) was opened to the public in Coney Island. It would transform amusement parks as each park began a quest to have the biggest, best and most exciting roller coaster. It would, unfortunately, also open up new ways for people to be hurt in amusement parks as we saw in the recent derailment of a ride at Daytona Beach, Florida.