Interior of the Palais de l'Exposition d'Électricité. The first International Exposition of Electricity in Paris (displaying advances in electrical technology) ran from August 15, 1881 through to November 15, 1881 at the Palais de l'Industrie on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. 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. This congress was a decisive step in the building of the modern International System of Units (SI). From The New Conquests of Science by Louis Figuier (1819-1894), 1884.