On the link posted by the Wiki, about Airy's dismissing the Foucault Pendulum actually working, there is a continuation text below (emphasis mine), I think it must be part of the wiki as well.
Powell and Airy attempted to disabuse the public of doubts concerning the Foucault pendulum. On 9 May, Powell, a leading British popularizer of science, gave an address on the Foucault pendulum at a public demonstration of the experiment at the Royal Institution.
Listing the repetitions conducted by scientists in Britain and Europe, he noted that the "accordance of many of the results at different places within fair limits of error"
confirmed the validity of the experiment. Powell cautioned, nevertheless, that the "sources of error are numerous and not easy to be effectually guarded against." He reasoned that "these causes of error" affected "many of the public repetitions" whose results did not conform to theory.
Powell also noted that Airy had confirmed the experiment.
On 9 May, Airy had presented his results to the Royal Astronomical Society. Two months later, Airy observed in an address before the British Association for the Advancement of Science that the Foucault pendulum had "excited very great attention both in France and England" by "visibly proving, if proof were necessary," the earth's rotation.
Although now "certain" that "Foucault's theory is correct," Airy warned that "careful adjustments" were necessary.
"For want of these the experiment has sometimes failed."
Some free oscillation (non powered) pendulum experiments:
Search Youtube for large pendulums on museums and other places over several cities, Paris, Valencia, Houston, Portland, Norway, Chicago, Fermilab, San Francisco, Austin, St Andrews, Franklin's Institute... It works so well, everybody wants one in theirs tall hall.