The centennial of the Institute: American Institute of Electrical Engineers — AIEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers — IEEE

Electrical technology grew at an explosive rate during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The scenario in the early 1880s shows the United States spiderwebbed by telegraph wires running helter-skelter across its surface, and Europe and America connected by underwater cable. Arc lights were in use in several cities; Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station was supplying power for incandescent lighting; there were numerous firms manufacturing electrical equipment; and the telephone was growing in importance as a communication tool. This burgeoning electrical activity prompted the Franklin Institute to sponsor an International Electrical Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1884. This exhibition in turn proved to be the catalyst in the formation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers — the antecedent of today's Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.