Where did electrical engineering begin?

The term "electrical engineering" was not in use in 1871 when the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was founded under its original name of "the Society of Telegraph Engineers". The electric telegraph was the major application of electricity then, and those engaged in electric lighting were called "electricians". At the opening meeting a leading telegraph engineer made the prophecy that "this Society will develop more into an electrical society than into a society of telegraphy proper." He was soon proved right. Within a few years, the Society was hearing papers on electric lighting, and in 1880 the words "and Electricians" were added to the title. The present name was adopted in 1888. According to Alexander Pelham Trotter (1857-1947), who joined the Institution in 1885, the existence of a new branch of engineering, "electrical engineering", became apparent in 1881 when the first International Electrical Exhibition was held in Paris. Trotter had been in Paris three years earlier for the 1878 Exhibition which, he said, had shown that electric lighting was developing. At that stage Trotter was an undergraduate at Cambridge, reading Natural Sciences. He graduated in 1879 and became an engineering apprentice with Easton and Anderson. It is not clear how he came to be actively involved with the 1881 exhibition, but he was there with the British delegation and took the opportunity of studying all the equipment on show.