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Jan 1, 1000
Thales
Around 2500 years ago, a Greek man by the name of Thales rubbed a piece of amber with a cloth and found that the amber would then attract small things like feathers. Although his experiments were not recorded, he also conducted more experiments about electricity. -
Period: Jan 1, 1544 to
William Gilbert
Like Thales, William Gilbert (a physician to Queen Elizabeth 1) found that sulfer, resin, diamond, and many other materials could attract light objects if rubbed. He conducted further experiments that were a great contribution to our knowledge of electricity. -
Otto Van Guericke
Otto Van Guericke made a contribution to our knowledge of electricity by making a very simple machine that created static electricity.He had not only found that the ball of sulfer used attracted things, but he also realized that the sulfer would repel objects. -
Benjamin Franklin
In the year of 1752, Benjamin Franklin did the famouos experiment of drawing electricity towards the ground with a kite. This confirmed his theory of lightning being electricity. He also examined the colour, shape, movement, power, and noise of the lightning. -
Luigi Galvani
In the year of 1791, Luigi Galvani was studying a frog when he noticed that the musles were in contact with two types of metal. With these observations, he made the theory that animal tissues made electricity. Even if this theory was proved wrong in the future, he had contributed a lot to future experiments. -
Count Allasandro Volta
Fascinated by Galvani's discoveries, he conducted a series of experiments and finally proved the first source of constant-current electricity. He also went to Paris in 1801 and made more experiments before the Institue de France. -
Hans Christian Oersted / Andre Marie Ampere
Hans Christian Oersted, a Danish scientist, noticed that when he put a wire with an electrical current was placed close to a compass needle, the point would move away from pointing north.From this he suggested that electricity and magnetism were somehow related. Andre Marie Ampere also discovered the same thing at about this time. -
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday had discovered that using magnets, he could make an electrical current. Using a coil of wire, he ran electrticity and pushed a magnet into it. If he pushed the magnet, there would be a current, but if he held it still, nothing would happen. Using this information, he created an electrical motor and electrical devices are still used to this day. -
James Brown
Canadian inventor James Brown was the very first person to invent the washing machine. It used electricity and made washing clothes a much easier and faster process. -
James Clerk Maxwell
In 1865, James Clerk Maxwell wrote four famous formulas about electrical and magnetic forces. Based on these formulas, he predicted electromagneting waves. This theory was later proved and he contributed a lot of information making televisions and radios possible. -
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell, a Canadian, was the inventer of the first telephone. At the time, he had accidentally heard his assistant fixing reeds on the other side of the wire, and with this he experimented with the plan to make a machine to transmite human voice. -
Thomas Edison
In the year of 1879, Thomas Edison discovered that if he were to run electricity through somthing that glowed when heated, then it would create light and heat. After years of experimenting, he finally created inexpensive and safe lighting. -
Thomas Ahearn
A Canadian Inventor Thomas Ahearn made an electric cook range in the year of 1882. This made cooking easier and much more convienient. -
Thomas Edison
After his important invention in 1879 of the light bulb, he had now created another invention that gave lighting, heat, and power. It was also very safe to use. -
Thomas Ahearn
Eight years after his invention of the electric range cooker, Thomas Ahearn made an electric car heater which makes car rides much more comfortable. -
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, an inventor born in Canada, was the first man to create a machine that could send messages through the air (wireless radio). This was just another invention that requires electricity. -
Philo Taylor Farnsworth
American inventor Philo Taylor Farnsworth made a very important invention- the television. He was inspired when he was using a plow and the lines left behind reminded him of scanning something.This extraordinary device is a huge part of our society today. -
George Retzlaff
The Canadian George Retzlaff was the inventor of a type of instant replay. George Retzlaff created instant replay on television
