HemisFair '68 was the official 1968 World's Fair (or International Exposition) held in San Antonio, Texas, from April 6 through October 6, 1968. The theme of the fair was "The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas", celebrating the many nations which settled the region. The fair was held in 1968 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio in 1718. More than thirty nations and fifteen corporations hosted pavilions at the fair.

The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) which oversees World's Fairs and Expositions, awarded HemisFair '68 with official Fair status on November 17, 1965.

The theme character of the fair was a dragon named Luther created by Sid and Marty Krofft, who was later renamed and starred in the Kroffts' Saturday morning television show H.R. Pufnstuf. The main premise of the show was taken from their production for the Coca-Cola pavilion at the fair.

Funding

The venture, which had an announced cost of $156 million, was financed by a combination of public and private funds. Public funding included $12.2 million from the U.S. Housing and Home Finance Agency for acquiring and clearing the site, $11 million in publicly approved city bonds for construction of the convention center and arena, $5.5 million in general revenues from the City of San Antonio for construction of the Tower of the Americas, $10 million from the State of Texas primarily for the construction of the Texas State Pavilion, and $7.5 million from the United States Congress for the construction of the United States pavilion.<ref name=Hemisfair '68>HemisFair '68 from the Handbook of Texas Online</ref>

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. Historians generally emphasize the prominence of themes of race and empire, and the Fair's long-lasting impact on intellectuals in the fields of history, art history, architecture and anthropology. From the point of view of the memory of the average person who attended the fair, it primarily promoted entertainment, consumer goods and popular culture.

Background

In 1904, St. Louis hosted a World's Fair to celebrate the centennial of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. It was delayed from a planned opening in 1903 to 1904, to allow for full-scale participation by more states and foreign countries. The Fair opened April 30, 1904, and closed December 1, 1904. St. Louis had held an annual St. Louis Exposition since the 1880s as agricultural, trade, and scientific exhibitions, but this event was not held in 1904, due to the World's Fair.

The General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm of 1897 (Swedish: Allmänna konst- och industriutställningen) also known as Stockholm Exhibition or Stockholm World's Fair (Stockholmsutställningen) was a World's Fair staged in 1897 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The exhibition site was located on the island of Djurgården, and many of the structures on the western part of the island originated as part of the exhibition. These include Djurgårdsbron, the main bridge to the island, the Skansens Bergbana, the funicular railway now in the Skansen open-air museum and zoo, and the Nordic Museum. One of the most prominent buildings of the exposition, a 16,820 m² exposition hall in wood, designed by the architect Ferdinand Boberg and featuring a 100 metres tall cupola and 4 minarets, was demolished after the exposition however, together with many other pavilions built in non-permanent materials.

One theme of the exposition was the new media technologies of the day, including film and the phonograph. The opening ceremonies of the exposition were documented in early recordings, including the opening address by King Oscar II. These recordings have been preserved, and are now available on the internet.

Expo 2015 was a Universal Exposition hosted by Milan, Italy. The opening took place on May 1, 2015 at 10:00 CEST,and the Expo closed on October 31, 2015. It was the second time Milan hosted the exposition. The first was the Milan International of 1906. On November 23, 2010, the event was officially announced by the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE). The BIE General Assembly in Paris decided in favour of the Milanese candidature on March 31, 2008. Expo 2015 was held under the theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

Theme

The theme chosen for the 2015 Milan Universal Exposition was Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. It embraced technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity and how they relate to food and diet. Expo 2015 further developed themes introduced in earlier Expos (e.g., water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in the light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, with a principal focus on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for all the world’s inhabitants.