Episode 2 of 2
Official Opening
- When
- 15 May 1855
- Where
- Champs-Élysées
The Exposition Universelle opened on 15 May 1855 on the Champs-Élysées, aiming to surpass the British Great Exhibition.
Emperor Napoleon III intended the fair to prove French superiority by surpassing London's 1851 Great Exhibition in every way. The event officially opened on 15 May 1855, featuring early versions of modern inventions and establishing the first of ten major Paris expositions.
Sources
- Exposition Universelle (1855) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-15
- Palais de l'Industrie Wikipedia, revision of 2026-03-21
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.