Editing Carousel (section)

===Early carousels===
[[File:Carrousel-LouisXIV-1662.jpg|thumb|left|A carrousel tournament organized in the Tuileries Palace courtyard by Louis XIV in 1662 to celebrate the birth of his son and heir. This event and others like it inspired the creation of the carousel amusement ride.]]
In 17th-century Europe, [[list of equestrian sports|equestrian]] royal tournaments known as "carrousels" (French for ''little battle'') began to be held.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18">{{Harvp|Hinds|1990|pp=17–18}}.</ref> The most famous carrousel of this kind was held by [[Louis XIV]] in June 1662, in the courtyard of the [[Tuileries Palace]], to celebrate the birth of his [[Louis, Grand Dauphin|son]] and [[heir apparent]]. The site of the event, next to the [[Louvre]], is still known as the "[[Place du Carrousel]]."<ref>Jacquin, Emmanuel, "Les Tuileries Du Louvre a la Concorde", (2000), pp. 14-15</ref> One of the skill tests performed during these events was ring jousting, a practice originally developed by 10th-century [[Arabs|Arabian]] and [[Moors|Moorish]] horsemen in which rings suspended from posts or trees would be speared by a [[lance]], sometimes at full gallop.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18"/> The noblemen participating in these tournaments often overworked their horses while practicing, so an early device was developed in the late 17th century to allow participants to practice ring jousting without the need for [[riding horse]]s.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18"/> It consisted of wooden horses suspended from a wheel mounted on a central pole, which was spun by a [[draft horse|work horse]] walking around the contraption's perimeter.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18"/>

{{Quote box|width=32em|align=right|quote=Among the attractions of the [Wilhelmsbad] entertainment venue during my boyhood years was, above all, the carousel. What a delight to be driven around in a tight circle on life-size wooden horses, or in graceful open carriages, drawn by wooden white and black horses. The knight's games were fun to watch. With childlike seriousness, indeed with an almost solemn air, people played ring jousting and dart throwing, slashed Turks' heads as they drove or rode past, and hurled balls into a Moor's wide-open mouth.|source=—[[Karl Cäsar von Leonhard]], recalling late-18th century childhood memories in what is now Germany, 1854<ref name="Leonhard1854p11">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b296733&seq=37 Leonhard, p. 11.]</ref>|salign=right}}
Devices like these became popular among commoners by the early 18th century, and carousels (as they came to be known) were being built and operated at various fairs and gatherings in [[Central Europe]]. Animal figures and mechanisms would be crafted during the winter months and the family and workers who made them would go touring in wagon trains, operating their carousels at various venues. These early carousels had no platforms; the animals would hang from chains and fly out from the [[centrifugal force]] of the spinning mechanism. They were often powered by animals walking in a circle or people pulling a rope or cranking.

The usage of carousels eventually spread to other parts of the world. Primitive carousels in North America were present since at least the late 18th century; in 1784, the [[New York City Council|New York City Common Council]] passed a law forbidding their use due to being unsafe.<ref name="Hinds1990p40">{{Harvp|Hinds|1990|p=40}}.</ref>

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