Thomas Edison switches on his Pearl Street generating station's electrical power distribution system, which provides 110 volts direct current (DC) to fifty-nine customers in one square mile of lower Manhattan, on September 4, 1882,

This is considered by many as the day that began the electrical age; the station is the first of many.

Earlier in the year, in January 1882, Edison had switched on the first steam-generating power station at Holborn Viaduct in London.

The DC supply system provides electricity supplies to street lamps and several private dwellings within a short distance of the station.

Edison had formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City in 1878 with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the members of the Vanderbilt family.

After making the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park, Edison had patented a system for electricity distribution in 1880, which is essential to capitalize on the invention of the electric lamp.

Edison had founded the Edison Illuminating Company on December 17, 1880

The company establishes the first investor-owned electric utility in New York City.