April 14, 1900: The Exposition Universelle Opens in Paris

April 14, 1900: The Exposition Universelle opens in Paris. It was the 17th World's Fair in Paris, and the 5th known as the Universal Exposition, but it became the best-known of them, the dawn of a new century.

The Fair was held to celebrate the achievements of the past century, and to accelerate development into the next. It was held at the esplanade of Les Invalides, the Champ de Mars, the Trocadéro, and at the banks of the River Seine between them, with an additional section in the Bois de Vincennes. It was visited by more than 50 million people.

Many technological innovations were displayed at the Fair, including a ferris wheel (an idea that had debuted at a previous World's Fair, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893; a moving sidewalk, the 1st regular passenger trolleybus line, escalators, diesel engines, electric cars, dry cell batteries, electric fire engines, talking films, a magnetic audio recorder, and matryoshka (Russian nesting) dolls.

One film that did not "talk" was the 1st version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet ever filmed, a brief recreation of the sword duel between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet was played by a woman. Not just any woman, but the woman then considered the world's greatest living actress: Sarah Bernhardt. Hamlet is usually depicted as a young man, around college age. "The Divine Sarah," as much the pride of France as any of its citizens then living, was 55 years old.

It also brought international attention to the Art Nouveau style. Additionally, it showcased France as a major colonial power, through numerous pavilions built on the hill of the Trocadéro Palace. The Palace, an auditorium and museum, was demolished in 1937, to make way for the Palais de Chaillot.

The Métropolitain, or Métro, Paris' subway system, opened on July 19, and was able to service the Exposition.

Many international congresses and other events were held within the framework of the exposition, including the 1900 Summer Olympics. Those Games were awarded to Paris as a tribute to the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. But they were easily the lamest Olympics ever, with only 26 countries participating. There weren't even Opening or Closing Ceremonies. It did, however, mark the debut of women competing.

The fair closed on November 12. Paris would also host World's Fairs in 1925, 1931, 1937 and 1947.

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April 14, 1900 was a Saturday. Baseball season was 5 days away, and no other sport was then in progress in North America. In English soccer, Woolwich Arsenal, the South-East London team that would later become the North London team Arsenal, and later still a team I began to support, went to Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, and lost to Grimsby Town, 1-0 at Blundell Park.