The first light bulb in Maribor, Slovenia, was lit on July 20, 1883, in the premises of the then National Reading Society. This event marked the 135th anniversary of the first use of electric light in Slovenia. The light bulb was not an ordinary one; it was a carbon filament lamp, which was the first practical type of light bulb, and it was directly connected to a dynamo machine, which provided electricity.

The light bulb was installed by the local technician and inventor Peter Pavel Glavar, who was also a priest. He was inspired by Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, which had been patented just a few years earlier in 1879. Glavar’s installation of the light bulb in Maribor predates the installation of electric lighting in many other European cities, including the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, which didn’t have electric street lighting until 1898.

The event was a significant milestone in the history of Maribor and Slovenia as a whole, demonstrating the country’s early adoption of new technology. Today, the event is commemorated with a plaque at the site of the original installation.