In 1803 the first Russian round-world sea expedition was started in the city, in1837 the first railway in Russia has begun operating. The route was St.-Petersburg - Tsarskoe Selo (residential of the emperors), in 1863 city sewer system was opened, in 1873 St Petersburg was the first on try to use electricity in their streets, in 1882 the phone station and 1895 the first car in the city.
In 1902 the bureaucratic St. Petersburg celebrated the 100th anniversary of Alexander I's government reform, which had established Russia's ministries. In May 1903 St. Petersburg celebrated its 200th anniversary. The trouble came in 1905. In January 1905 a peaceful demonstration of workers was fired at by troops at the Palace Square. This led to public outrage and the start of the 1905-07 Revolution. The events of January 9, 1905 became known as "Bloody Sunday". On October 17, 1905 Nicholas II had to issue a manifesto proclaiming a number of civil rights and instituting a new parliament, consisting of the Duma and the reformed State Council.
The opening of the Duma in 1906 gave fresh grounds for hope to thousands of liberals in the intelligentsia. The district where the Duma was located soon became one of the most popular residential areas. However, the hope was short lived. The government curtailed many of the freedoms and blocked many of the Duma's initiatives. In the end, after the hardships of World War I had helped to evaporate public patience, the streets of St. Petersburg - Petrograd saw the two revolutions of 1917. But that happened later. In the meantime, St. Petersburg was the base for many of the most prominent artists, musicians, composers, writers and poets who actually made this period the "Silver Age". With a population of 2 million people, the modern metropolis was about to face new challenges, but the war has changed all the plans.
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