Invention of Public Electricity Supply




Timeline

Y/M/D Description Place
1880/01/27 Thomas Edison receives a patent for an incandescent lamp, soon to be a commercially viable electric light bulb. Thomas A Edison Memorial Tower, Edison
1881/00/00 Thomas Edison demonstrates the benefits of electric lights in London.
1882/01/12 The Edison Electric Light Station at 57 Holborn Viaduct, London, begins producing electricity for 968 16-candle street lights located from Holborn Circus to St Martin's Le Grand. The station closed in September 1886. Holborn Viaduct, London, London
1882/09/04 Edison's Pearl Street Station (lost) begins generating electricity. The power plant has six 27-ton steam-driven dynamos, named after Jumbo the elephant, each capable of producing 100 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 1,200 lamps.
1882/09/04 At the Drexel, Morgan and Co headquarters (lost) at 23 Wall Street, Thomas Edison switches on 600 electric lights throughout the building, shining a light on the future of illumination. J P Morgan and Co Building, New York City
1885/12/19 After building the first electric generating plant in Muncie, the Boyce Block and H Klein's Jewelry Store become the first commercial buildings in Muncie to be lighted by electricity. Boyce Block, Muncie
1890/00/00 Located at 255-257 Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York City, the Pearl Street Station burns down, destroying all but one dynamo which is now preserved at the Greenfield Village Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn
1892/04/15 Drexel, Morgan and Co finances the consolidation of Thomas Edison's electric companies with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form the General Electric Company, one of the most important industrial combinations of the late 19th century.
1893/00/00 The entire Glessner house is electrified. Wired for electricity when it was built, the house was lighted with gas since no infrastructure existed to provide electricity. John J Glessner House, Chicago
1894/10/00 After leasing and remodeling, the Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hotels opens the Gezirah Palace as The Ghezireh Palace Hotel. The luxurious lodgings on the Nile feature baths, electric lights and a permanent twenty piece orchestra. Gezirah Palace Hotel, Cairo, Cairo
1895/00/00 Sargent and Lundy operate Toledo Traction Company Power Station where the boiler rooms produced electricity for streetcar lines and most buildings and residence using Edison's new three-wire system. Toledo Traction Company Power Station, Toledo, OH
1898/00/00 M S Detweiler designs a Romanesque Revival church to be lit by 450 incandescent fixtures. The lamps use the power of 16 candles because the filaments of the bulbs do not last long at a higher watt and because people are used to the light provided by gas. Christ Church of LaCrosse, La Crosse
1900/00/00 The Hagneck hydroelectric power plant is built at the mouth of the Hagneck Canal in Lake Biel by Elektrizittswerk Hagneck AG. Elektrizitatswerk Hagneck, CH, Hagneck, CH-BE
1901/00/00 Hungerford House is built as electricity generating station for street lighting, 1900-9001. The Arts and Crafts Free Style Baroque building features Portland stone and a slate roof. Hungerford House, Victoria Embankment
1920/00/00 Lincoln Street Electric Streetlights are installed between the 1916 platting of the Subdivision and 1920. Lincoln Street Electric Streetlights, Twin Falls, ID
1937/00/00 The Bonneville Dam begins producing electricity. Bonneville Dam Historic District, Bonneville
1937/00/00 The Bonneville Dam begins producing electricity. Bonneville Dam Historic District, North Bonneville

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