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Jan 29, 1572
Electricity Discovered
Before Franklin started his scientific experimentation, it was thought that electricity consisted of two opposing forces. Franklin showed that electricity consisted of a "common element" which he named "electric fire." Further, electricity was "fluid" like a liquid. -
Savery patented an early steam engine
Thomas Savery patents "the Miners Friend" a machine that pumps water from coal mines; it becomes the first practical machine powered by steam. He later publishes a description of his steam engine in 1702. Denis Papin in 1707 modifies Savery's high-pressure steam pump. -
First Battery
Alessandro Volta created the first battery, as the result of a professional disagreement with his colleague Galvani. Consisted of two electrodes, one made of zinc and the other copper. -
Fuel Cells
William Robert Grove evented fuel cells tha produces electricial energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen -
Electric Telegraph
Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph, a machine that could send messages long distances across wire. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. In addition to helping invent the telegraph, Samuel Morse developed a code that assigned a set of dots and dashes to each letter of the English alphabet and allowed for the simple transmission of complex messages across telegraph lines. -
Invention of lightbullb
Thomas Edison invented an incandescent light bulb that could be used for about 40 hours without burning out. He improved his bulbs so that by 1880 his bulbs could be used for 1200 hours. -
The World's First Hydroelectric Power Plant Began Operation
The world's first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. The plant, later named the Appleton Edison Light Company, was initiated by Appleton paper manufacturer H.J. Rogers, who had been inspired by Thomas Edison's plans for an electricity-producing station in New York. -
Wind Power
The first windmill used for the production of electricity was built by Prof James Blyth. Blyth's 10 m high, cloth-sailed wind turbine was installed in the garden of his holiday cottage at Marykirk in Kincardineshire and was used to charge accumulators to power the lighting in the cottage, thus making it the first house in the world to have its electricity supplied by wind power -
solar power
French scientist Henry Becquerel observes the production of electricity directly from the sun while experimenting with an electrolytic cell made up of two metal electrodes placed in an electricity-conducting solution. -
Electric Power Plant
Italian scientist Piero Ginori Conti invents the first geothermal electric power plant.
