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Steam Engine
The first crude steam powered machine was built by Thomas Savery, of England, in 1698. Savery built his machine to help pump water out of coal mines. -
Electricity
Ben suspected that lightning was an electrical current in nature. To test his idea, he decided to use a metal key and a kite, to prove that lightning is really a stream of electrified air, known today as plasma. His famous stormy kite flight in June of 1752 led him to develop manyof the terms that we still use today when we talk about electricity: battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharged, negative, minus, plus, electric shock, and electrician. -
Electric Motor
The conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy by electromagnetic means was demonstrated by the British scientist Michael Faraday. -
Heat Engines
French physicist Sadi Carnot established the thermodynamic theory of idealized heat engines. This scientifically established the need for compression to increase the difference between the upper and lower working temperatures. -
Fuel Cell
Sir William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, a device that produces electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen. -
Solar Panel (Photovoltaic Cells)
In 1839 Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect which explains how electricity can be generated from sunlight. He claimed that “shining light on an electrode submerged in a conductive solution would create an electric current.” -
Telegraph
Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph, a machine that could send messages long distances across wire. -
Battery
Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery.Volta’s discovery of the decomposition of water by an electrical current laid the foundation of electrochemistry. -
Lightbulb
After many experiments, Thomas Edison invented an incandescent light bulb that could be used for about 40 hours without burning out. By 1880 his bulbs could be used for 1200 hours. -
Wind Turbine
In Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. scientist and businessman Charles Brush builds the first wind turbine to generate electricity. Measuring 17 metres tall and using 144 cedar rotor blades, it has a capacity of 12 kilowatts.
