The Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, and the Alexandre III Bridge are among Paris’s most famous monuments. But they would never have existed without world expos. These spectacular international events have been organized since 1851 in London, with the 2025 edition inaugurated on April 13, 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Organized under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the event invites the public to explore pavilions from 160 countries and exhibits various technological, scientific, and artistic innovations, including an artificial heart and a Martian rock.
In over 170 years of existence, world expos have maintained the same objective: to showcase exceptional examples of technological progress at a given point in history, and to allow both the host country and its guests to promote their innovations.
In our three-minute video, Le Monde revisits the origins and purpose of these expos, born from a rivalry between industrial powers in the 19th century.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
Reuse this content
AloJapan.com