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630 BCE
Thales of Miletus
Experimented with static electricity by making generators out of amber disks and cat fur that made electric sparks. -
Benjamin Franklin
Discovers the connection between electricity and lightning by tying a key to a kite and flying it in a thunderstorm. -
Luigi Galvani
Discovers 'animal electricity' or bioelectricity while dissecting a frog with a brass hook. -
Practical battery
John Frederic Daniell creates the first practical battery with an unglazed earthenware container filled with sulfuric acid and a zinc electrode. -
Solar Panel Discovery
Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovers that electricity can be generated by sunlight by shining light on an electrode submerged in a conductive solution. -
First Modern Water Turbine
James Francis creates the Francis turbine, it is still the most widely used water turbine to this day. -
Thomas Edison
Files his first patent application on the first incandescent lamp. -
First Automobile
Karl Benz creates the first true automobile. -
Geothermal Energy
Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator. -
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission of heavy elements was discovered by German Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann.