The First Commercial Power Station（1880s cityscape engraving）

144 years agoThe Electrical Age

1882-09-04

The First Commercial Power Station

Edison's Pearl Street Station began supplying electricity to customers in Manhattan.

Art style · 1880s cityscape engraving

World population

1.5Bpeople

Primary energy power

1.2×10¹²W

London → New York message

12 seconds

Civilization metrics

Each sparkline shows the documented history of a metric on a logarithmic time axis. The dot marks the selected moment.

Kardashev index

0.607

Based on primary energy power · Type I = 1

World population

1.5Bpeople

1/6 of today

Total human primary energy power

1.2×10¹²W

1/17 of today

Compute per dollar

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 1945

Fastest delivery time for a message from London to New York

12 seconds

393 times slower than today

Fastest speed reached by humans

175km/h

1/228 of today

Near this moment

The eight closest milestones. Select a title to jump there.

1869-03-06Humanity
Mendeleev presented his periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society and predicted undiscovered elements. Source
1876-03-10Computing
Bell transmitted speech by telephone for the first time. Source
1879Energy
Edison's team developed a long-lasting carbon-filament incandescent lamp. Source
1882-03-24Humanity
Koch announced that tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium, establishing the germ theory of disease. Source
1882-09-04Energy
Edison's Pearl Street Station began supplying electricity to customers in Manhattan. Source
1886-01-29Energy
Karl Benz patented a three-wheeled car powered by an internal combustion engine. Source
1890Computing
The US Census processed its data with Hollerith's tabulating machines. Source
1895-11-08Humanity
Röntgen discovered X-rays, letting doctors see inside the human body for the first time. Source

Capabilities

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Scenes across eras

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The Electrical Age

4 scenes · Select a scene to visit that moment

Generators, power grids, electric light and the telephone spread, and energy and information can travel instantly along wires.

Playable workshops

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Every timeline entry cites its source. Metrics interpolate logarithmically between sourced data points. Forecasts include institutional and community views, and attributed site scenarios; years are not guaranteed realization dates. Illustrations are AI-generated in each era's style.

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