10 Historic Energy Events

  • Lightning

    Lightning

    Benjamin Franklin harnessed lightning by flying a kite during a thunderstorm. Lead to new ideas about the creation of energy
  • First Battery

    First Battery

    Alessandro Volta created the first battery which consisted of two electrodes one made of zinc and the other copper.
  • Creation of Solar Panel

    Creation of Solar Panel

    Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapen were American scientists that were able to create a solar panel with an efficiency of 6% with direct sunlight.
  • Creation of Refrigerator

    Creation of Refrigerator

    John Gorrie, and American physician, created the first working refrigerator.
  • First Hydroelectric power plant

    First Hydroelectric power plant

    First hyroelectric power plant opened in the US in Appleton, Wisconsin.
  • Strike Oil at Spindleton

    Strike Oil at Spindleton

    Pattilo Higgins discovers oil at Spindleton Hill, Texas. Began the oil boom in the US.
  • First geothermal plant

    First geothermal plant

    John D. Grant creates first geothermal power plant in the US at the Geysers, Arkansas.
  • Robert Moses Niagara Hydroelectric Power Station

    Robert Moses Niagara Hydroelectric Power Station

    The plant located in Lewiston, New York, diverts water from Niagara Falls and converts it too energy. Named after Robert Moses.
  • 3 mile island

    3 mile island

    Nuclear power meltdown in Dauphin County, Pennslyvania. No deaths were accounted for as a result of the incident; however, it greatly swayed public opinion against nuclear power
  • Exon Valdez Oil Spill

    Exon Valdez Oil Spill

    Occured in Prince William Sound, Alaska spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of oil into US waters. Considered to be one of the most devasting human cause enviromental disasters.