The electrical congress and universal exposition

Among all the anniversaries that we are celebrating this year, a special place should be given to the centenary of an important event — the first International Congress of Electrical Engineers in 1881 which laid down the foundations for the prodigious development of the electrical industry. This Congress was held in Paris from 15th September to 5th October 1881 in the Palais des Champs-Elysées, as well as the Exposition which formed the ‘laboratory’ of the Congress. Sometimes called the ‘Palais de l'Industrie’, the Palais des Champs-Elysées was a vast metal construction similar to the Crystal Palace in London; on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of 1900, it was replaced by the present Petit Palais and Grand Palais.