The introduction of scientific and technological achievements into everyday practice often encountered such opposition that the advocates of the new sometimes had to use the form of the trial with prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges to prove the advantages of the new technology.

Surprisingly, the fact that through a lawsuit had to prove to the general public the seemingly obvious advantages of electric lighting.

To this end, in March 1879, the English parliament established a commission that was supposed to put an end to the rumors and absurd rumors spread by opponents of electricity - gas companies.

The commission had significant powers: it had the right to call all the witnesses that it considered necessary, and with the same rights on which they were called by the court. The inquiry was carried out in the same way as a judicial investigation. The defendant was electricity ...