page_title: International Exposition of Electricity
section_title: Exhibits
hierarchical_section_title: International Exposition of Electricity / Exhibits
caption_attribution_description: Théâtrophone. Plan device théatrophone at the Opera during the World Exhibition in Paris (1881).
context_page_description: The first International Exposition of Electricity in Paris ran from August 15, 1881 through to November 15, 1881 at the Palais de l'Industrie on the Champs-Élysées. It served to display the advances in electrical technology since the small electrical display at the 1878 Universal Exposition. 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.
context_section_description: Among the exhibits were:
  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. The conclusion was the high resistance Edison lamp was the most efficient, followed by the Lane-Fox, Swan, and Maxim lamps.
caption: Using the described Théâtrophone apparatus, visitors could hear the live opera two kilometres away.
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