What do the telephone, the Ferris Wheel and a 28,000 pound typewriter all have in common? They were just a few of the thousands of inventions that made their debut at one of the World’s Fairs held in America. Starting Monday, folks visiting the Stearns History Museum will get a chance to see the exhibit, “Centuries of Progress: American World’s Fairs between 1853 and 1982.” The traveling exhibit presents a remarkable overview of more than a century of American World’s Fairs. The exhibit will be featured at the Stearns History Museum until May 10th.

Also open at the museum is the new exhibit “The World’s Best, Finest, and the Envy of Everyone In Town. For the past 150 years Stearns County residents have participated in the process of American innovation on multiple levels. They have invented, purchased, manufactured, and used goods in their home, at work, and on their farms. “World’s Best” will be open through June of 2011. The Stearns History Museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm Monday thru Saturday, and noon to 5 on Sundays.