Geodesic dome Zeiss plant in Jena, Germany. A larger dome, called "The Wonder of Jena", opened to the public in July 1926. Some 20 years later, R. Buckminster Fuller named the dome "geodesic" from field experiments with artist Kenneth Snelson at Black Mountain College in 1948 and 1949. Although Fuller was not the original inventor, he is credited with the U.S. popularization of the idea for which he received U.S. patent 2,682,235 29 June 1954. The geodesic dome appealed to Fuller because it was extremely strong for its weight, its "omnitriangulated" surface provided an inherently stable structure, and because a sphere encloses
The Dome at America's Center World Airlines, a St. Louis-based air carrier, purchased naming rights in 1995 and held them until 2001, when TWA was acquired by American Airlines (American already has its name on two NBA/NHL venues in Dallas and Miami). During this time, the Dome was known as the Trans World Dome. The facility then briefly reverted to the Dome at America's Center until the naming rights were acquired on January 25, 2002 by Edward Jones Investments, a financial services firm based St. Louis. As part of a deal to sell the naming rights to Rams Park (dubbed at the time the Russell