This week in history: The 1962 Seattle World's Fair kicked off

Two days after the monorail was christened in Seattle, the fair billed as Century 21 Exposition — which opened 59 years ago Wednesday — represented 59 countries underneath the shadow of the newly built Space Needle.

Through the years the fair shed the Century 21 name and was remembered simply as the Seattle World's Fair. It was also remembered for the introduction of the monorail to generations of Seattleites, and the Space Needle which would adorn postcards and pictures of the Seattle skylines from then on.

According to HistoryLink, President John F. Kennedy pressed a telegraph key from his Easter holiday in Florida to start the fair. Kennedy also missed the fair's closing ceremony in October of the same year due to the Cuban Missile Crisis, though at the time he blamed it on a cold.

But the opening day was not without tragedy. During the opening ceremonies, an "Air Force F102 airplane — part of a squadron performing at opening day ceremonies for the Seattle World's Fair — crashed into two homes in a Mountlake Terrace neighborhood (now part of Shoreline)," according to HistoryLink.

One home was empty, but unfortunately the other home's occupants were killed instantly.

On a lighter note of the day, Belgian waffles made their American debut after being introduced at a world's fair in Brussels in 1958.

"Walter Cleyman, who baked waffles at the Brussels fair, opened two waffle stands at the Seattle fair -- one on the Boulevards of the World, and one near the International Fountain. Cleyman brought his gas-powered waffle irons with him from Belgium, along with his wife and daughter, who helped out at the waffle stands," HistoryLink said of the debut.

"Upon his arrival in Seattle, Cleyman was invited to the Olympic Hotel to taste American waffles, which he had never eaten before. After some thoughtful munching, he gave his approval claiming that they tasted very good. But as tasty as the American waffles were, they were no match for his own."

The fair was emblemized by the movie "It Happened at the World's Fair" starring Elvis Presley and filmed at the exposition. The flick was forgettable, but the P-I reported the New Washington Hotel was "under siege by an army of starry-eyed teenage girls."

And while the scenes of the fair give off the illusion of good-natured family fun with exhibits on science, space exploration and a progressive future, there was an adults-only element: strippers.

You could find them at "Show Street" which was billed as "naughty but nice" and featured models posing revealing space-age costumes (in keeping with the fair's aesthetic). Fairgoers could rent cameras to take pictures.

From the book "The Future Remembered" on the World's Fair: "The Seattle Censor Board ordered the show closed at one point. Among its complaints: excessive shimmying and shaking by bare-breasted 'space girls.'"

All in all, the event drew about 10 million visitors, putting the Emerald City on the map in modern history.