Expositions were used as public displays of industrial or commercial products or of fine arts. Due to the booming industry Expositions were becoming very popular for countries to show off their architectural and artistic advances. It was also a way for countries compete against each other industrially. The age of expositions began with the Crystal Palace Exhibition, in London in 1851. Expositions had been held on a much smaller scale for centuries. However, the Crystal Palace Exposition was the first major exposition after the Industrial Revolution, it established certain guidelines that were followed by all subsequent expositions of its kind. Some of the major expositions of the century were:
• The Crystal Palace Exposition (London, 1851)
• The Exposition of the Industry of All Nations (New York, 1853-1854)
• The Centennial Exposition (Paris, 1889)
• The World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1893)