The first International Exposition of Electricity (French: Exposition internationale d'Électricité) ran from 15 August 1881 through to 15 November 1881 at the Palais de l'Industrie on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France. It served to display the advances in electrical technology since the small electrical display at the 1878 Universal Exposition.[1] Exhibitors came from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as from France. As part of the exhibition, the first International Congress of Electricians presented numerous scientific and technical papers, including definitions of the standard practical units volt, ohm and ampere.[1]
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International Exposition of Electricity
Palais de l'Industrie in 1855, site of the International Exposition of Electricity 1881
George Berger was the Commissioner General. Aside from the provision of the building by the French government, the exhibition was privately financed. Organizers would donate profits to scientific works in the public interest.
Apparatus for production and transmission of electricity,
natural and artificial magnets, and compasses,
devices used in the study of electricity,
many applications of electricity (sound, heat, light, electroplating, electrochemistry, signage, power, industrial applications, agricultural and domestic),
lightning,
old instruments in connection with electricity.
Electric lighting with incandescent lamps was one of key developments on display at the exposition, with up to 2500 lamps used to light the venue. The lamps of Thomas Edison, St. George Lane-Fox, Hiram Maxim, and Joseph Swan were compared in extensive tests by a committee, including exposition juror William Crookes, to establish the most efficient lamp design.[4] The conclusion was the high resistance Edison lamp was the most efficient, followed by the Lane-Fox, Swan, and Maxim lamps.[5]