When it opened in 1962, tickets to the top were $1 for adults, 75 cents for kids.
The inaugural Space Needle Dinner was fresh Dungeness crab legs or an Eye of the Needle salad (romaine, chopped herring, croutons, creamy dressing), choice of prime rib of Western beef or Puget Sound salmon, and a dessert for $6.75. A martini was $1.25.
Each one of the 72 bolts used to anchor the structure into the foundation is 32 feet long.
On the first day the public was allowed up the Needle -- March 24, 1962 -- the high temperature was 53 degrees.
If you had to walk, there are 832 stairs between the SkyCity restaurant and the ground level.
Four people have jumped to their deaths -- all in the 1970s -- which prompted the installation of safety wires.
Dozens of celebrities have been up in the Space Needle, including Elvis Presley, who starred in the 1963 movie, "It Happened at the World's Fair."
There are 24 lightening rods on top of the Needle.
On warm days, the Needle expands up to an inch.
Cordless phones were installed at tables in the restaurant for the World's Fair, a futuristic foreshadowing of the cell phone revolution -- a feat many said was impossible at the time.
The original name of the Space Needle was the Space Cage.
There are three elevators. The blue is used most often, followed by the yellow. The red is a service elevator that some say has the best view, looking south across the city skyline, but it travels at a slower rate than the others.
About a million people visit the Space Needle every year, making it the region's most popular attraction.
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