The History of electricity

By danigisme

  • Thunderstorm

    Thunderstorm
    Believing lightning is a flow of electricity taking place
    in nature, Benjamin Franklin tests his
    theory, fastening an iron spike to a
    silk kite and holding the end of the kite
    string by an iron key during a
    thunderstorm. Lightning flashes, and
    a tiny spark jumps from the key to
    Franklin’s wrist. thanks to this I think is the lightning rod

  • First battery

    First battery
    Building on Galvani’s work, Italian physics professor
    Allesandro Volta shows that when moisture comes
    between two different metals, electricity is created.
    This leads him to develop the first battery – thin
    sheets of copper and zinc separated by paper
    soaked in acid. Volta shows electricity can flow
    steadily—like a current of water—instead of
    discharging itself in a single lightning bolt or spark.
    He later invents the electric condenser.

  • First motor

    First motor
    English physicist Michael Faraday succeeds in
    building the first electric motor. He discovers
    when a magnet is moved within a coil of copper
    wire a small electric current flows through the
    wire. American Joseph Henry also discovers this
    principle the same year.

  • First generator

    First generator
    Generators with electromagnets in the field are
    first constructed.

  • first incandescent bulb

    first incandescent bulb
    Edison and English physicist Joseph Swan both
    apply for patents for carbon-filament
    incandescent lamps. Litigation between the two
    men is resolved by formation of a joint company
    in 1883.

  • Firs hidraulic generator

    Firs hidraulic generator
    Edison establishes a central
    generating station at Pearl Street in lower
    Manhattan, serving 85 customers in a one-squaremile
    area. Edward Weston begins manufacturing
    electric meters. The first water-powered plant for
    generating electricity is built in Appleton, Wisconsin

  • first electric train

    first electric train
    Frank Sprague demonstrates the first practical
    electric motor for use in locomotives. In 1887,
    he inaugurates a small electric railway in St.
    Joseph, Missouri, and builds the Union
    Passenger Railway in Richmond, Virginia – the
    first large electric railway system ever
    attempted.

  • Tesla,AC

    Tesla,AC
    Nikola Tesla, a Serbian electrical engineer
    who had immigrated to the United States
    and was working with Edison, introduces the
    alternating current generator, allowing
    electricity to be distributed longer distances
    than the two miles possible with direct
    current generators. Everyone but Edison
    agrees AC is superior to DC. Even Edison’s
    own company – Edison Electric Company,
    now called General Electric – eventually
    switches to AC. All electric motors today run
    on principles set out by Tesla.

  • First picture

    First picture
    Edison connects the phonograph and
    George Eastman’s camera to make
    talking pictures.

  • build the nuclear reactor

    build the nuclear reactor
    A nuclear reactor built at
    Arco, Idaho, powers a
    generator, producing the
    first electricity generated by
    atomic energy.