The Century 21 Exposition is better known as the Seattle World's Fair. The highlights of the fair were the Space Needle and the Alweg Monorail. The fair opened in early 1962 and the production model Studebaker Avanti made its first public appearance in April at the New York Auto Show. The classic Studebaker Avanti advertisements were published in Life and other popular periodicals at the same time.

The Space Needle became the symbol of Seattle. The structure is 184 m (605 feet) high and 42 m (138 feet) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h) and earthquakes up to 9.1 magnitude, and has 25 lightning rods on the roof to withstand lightning strikes. The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (159 m), a restaurant, and a gift shop. From the top one can see the downtown Seattle skyline, the Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Elliott Bay and its surrounding islands.

The Monorail is an elevated train that runs one mile along Fifth Avenue from Westlake Center in downtown to Seattle Center in Lower Queen Anne. It claims to be the "only fully self-sufficient public transit system" in the United States, and with a top speed of 50 mph, to also be the fastest full-sized monorail in the country.

It Happened at the World's Fair is a 1963 musical film starring Elvis Presley as a cropdusting pilot. It was filmed at the site of the Century 21 Exposition. The Space Needle and Monorail provided backdrops for several scenes.