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Benjamin Franklin invents the Franklin Stove
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Thomas-François Dalibard of France conducted Franklin's experiment using a 40-foot-tall iron rod instead of a kite, and he extracted electrical sparks from a cloud.
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Franklin's famous kite flight
Using a metal key and a child's toy, a kite, he and his son prove that lightning is really a stream of electrified air, known today as plasma. -
Henry Cavendish discovered hydrogen element.
He called his discovery "inflammable air." -
The first offshore oil wells are drilled.
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Jacob Perkins invents a radiator for use with hot water central heating.
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Daniel Hallady produces the first U.S. windmills based on European ones but with wooden instead of cloth sails.
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American Energy Company GE Incorporated
Schenectady, NY -
Charles Proteus Steinmetz warns in Future of Electricity about air pollution from burning coal and water pollution from uncontrolled sewage disposal into rivers.
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First nuclear reactor
Windscale, in England