History of Energy

By carolinemckay_

  • Franklin flies kite during thunderstorm

    Franklin flies kite during thunderstorm
    Benjamin Franklin flew a kite during a thunderstorm and was able to collect a charge in a Leyden jar when the kite was struck by lightning. This enabled him to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning.

  • Invention of electric battery

    Invention of electric battery
    Alessandro Volta first reported of the electric battery which he demonstrated in Paris later that year.

  • Electric Motor

    Electric Motor
    Thomas Davenport created the first working electric motor to power a small model train. It is now known today as the DC motor.

  • Fuel Cells

    Fuel Cells
    Fuel cells were first created by William Grove in 1839. He discovered that it was possible to generate electricity by reversing the electrolysis of water.

  • Edison invents the "first" lightbulb

    Edison invents the "first" lightbulb
    Edison created the first practical incandescent light bulb in the fall of 1879. Edison and his team of researchers in Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J., tested more than 3,000 designs for bulbs between 1878 and 1880.

  • First Hydroelectric Dam

    First Hydroelectric Dam
    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.

  • Geothermal Energy

    Geothermal Energy
    Italian scientist Piero Ginori Conti invented the first geothermal electric power plant in which steam was used to generate the power.

  • Solar Panels

    Solar Panels
    Calvin Fuller, Gerald Pearson, and Daryl Chapin, discovered the silicon solar cell. This cell produced enough electricity and was efficient enough to run small electrical devices.This was the beginning of the solar panel.

  • First use of wind farms

    First use of wind farms
    The first large scale wind farms are created in California. New information, such as greater awareness of environmental affects and where wind turbines should be installed is learned.

  • Electric car from GM

    Electric car from GM
    On April 10, 1990 it was announced that the Impact (GM's first electric car) would be produced. General Motors mass produced this car from 1996 to 1999.