Primary Westinghouse A.C. polyphase generator used to power the fair. In 1892 George Westinghouse won the contract to power the Columbian Exposition. The Westinghouse company, with Tesla's guidance, built a power system for the exposition that produced three times more energy than was being utilized by the entire remainder of Chicago. Tesla had a large display including phosphorescent lighting (a precursor to fluorescent lamps) powered without wires by high-frequency fields and the Egg of Columbus. The success of the Tesla Polyphase System installed at the exposition ensured Westinghouse would be selected to harness Niagara. The World's Columbian Exposition was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492.