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Benjamin Franklin performed his kite experiment proving lightning was electrical and leading the path to the invention of the lightning rod.
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Alessandro Volta invented the first electric battery during the year 1800.
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In 1824, Samuel Morey developed the first internal combustion engine in the United States.
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Thomas Davenport invented the first American electric motor in 1834.
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Thomas Edison developed the first long lasting and economically light bulb in 1879 and had it patented on November 4.
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On September 4, 1882, the Edison Illuminating Company activated the first electrical utility in the United States at the Pearl Street Station, New York City.
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In 1883, Charles Fritts invented the first solar cell in America; unfortunately, it only had around a 1% conversion effeciency.
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While an eletricicity generating wind turbine had already been invented, the one Charles F. Brush built in 1888 was the first in the world to be automatically operated.
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The transistor, a piece necessary for many of today's electrical appliances, was invented in December 1947 by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley.
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On March 18, 1958, the first nuclear power plant in the US was opened.