No. 2 (2026): Issue № 2
On the Cover – Festive illumination in Lefortovo in 1856.
Sources: Velikolepnyy feyerverk po sluchayu koronatsii pri 1-m i 2-m kadetskih korpusov 17 sentyabrya 1856 goda (Magnificent Fireworks on the Occasion of the Coronation of the 1st and 2nd Cadet Corps on September 17, 1856). M.: Litografiya izdatelya A. Rudneva, 1856.
Rapport fait par M. Le Roux, au nom du comité des arts économiques, sur un régulateur pour la lumière électrique présenté par M. Spakowski, de Saint-Pétersbourg. – Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale, 1862, Tome 9, pp. 270–271.
170 years ago, in 1856, in Lefortovo, participants in the celebrations dedicated to the coronation of Emperor Alexander II witnessed the first festive electric illumination in Russia. The battery, assembled from 600 Bunsen cells, powered several electrical regulators designed by Alexander Ilyich Shpakovsky, also called "electric suns." The orchestra of 3,000 musicians was accompanied by artillery fire. The fuses of the guns were electric and the shots were controlled remotely using a special keyboard instrument.
