-
585 BCE
First note of static electricity
A Greek man named Thales of Miletus was the first person to make note of electric properties. By rubbing pieces of amber with materials like cat fur and feathers, Thales earned the claim as the first one to discover static electricity. -
Period: 585 BCE to
Electric Inventions/Discoveries
A timeline of huge electrical discoveries -
The term electricity was finally determined
2200 years following Thales’ experiments before the term was officially coined, Electricity, coming from the Greek word for amber, was first used by William Gilbert who was Queen Elizabeth’s physician. -
Alessandro Volta invents the electric battery
An Italian physicist named Alessandro Volta, is credited for the invention of the battery. He also disproved the theory that electricity could only be generated from living beings, This discovery lead to the development of electrochemistry. -
Hybrids for electric cars are replaced with combustion engines.
Just about two centuries before hybrids and fully-electric vehicles hit the market, a Slovak-Hungarian priest who goes by Anyos Jedlik invented the first electric vehicle. Since it wasn’t commercially viable, it was quickly replaced by the combustion engine. -
Shipping vessels lay 200 lines of telegraphs wire
A group of shipping vessels worked in conjunction to lay around 2,000 lines of telegraph cable at a depth of two miles. This completed the first transatlantic telegraph line. This enabled communication between large distances. -
Thomas Edison improves the Light Bulb
Thomas Edison improved the modern incandescent light bulb. Edison’s patented bulb is said to have lasted 1,200 hours, where as compared to the 40-hour bulbs that were standard at the time, helping to bring lighting to the masses. -
A portion of renewable energy is found
A portion of renewable energy generated around the world comes from hydroelectric plants. The first hydroelectric power plant opened and began generating energy on Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. -
Thomas Edison opens the first electrical power distributer
Thomas Edison opens the first electrical power distribution system in Manhattan using direct current (DC) technology. DC remained the standard in the United States for a brief period of time -
Computers with communication are invented
Researchers at MIT and the Defence Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), were able to make computers communicate over a telephone wire for the first time.