-
600 BCE
600BC: Static Electricity
Thalas found when amber was rubbed with silk it attracted feathers. -
1600: William Gilbert invented term electricity
He was the first person to describe the earth's magnetic field and realize that there is relationship between magnetism and electricity. -
1705: Francis Hauksbee's Neon Light
Investigated the luminosity of mercury which when placed in glass of generator, evacuated the air from it which created a vacuum. When the ball was rubbed to build up a charge, a glow was visible. -
1745: Leyden jars
Ewald Georg von Kleist and Pieter van Musschenbroek invented Leyden jars which store a high-voltage electric charge between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. -
1752: Franklin proved that lightning is a form of electricity
Benjamin Franklin, flew a kite with a metal tip into a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is a form of electricity. -
1700s: The Wimshurst machine was invented
The Wimshurst machine was used to produce static electricity by two parallel plates being rotated in opposite directions producing a charge around the edges of the plates. -
1800: Volta's Pile
Volta created a simple battery using pure silver and zinc discs which were squeezed between muslin damped in a salt solution. -
1816: First working Electric Telegraph
Francis Ronalds built a working telegraph which uses coded electrical signals to communicate information through electrical wiring. -
1820: Discovery of magnetic fields
Hans Christian Oersted of Denmark found that when electricity flows through a wire, it produces a magnetic field that affects the needle of a nearby compass. -
1821: Michael Faraday's Discovery
He discovered that when a magnet is moved inside a coil of copper wire, an electric current flows through the wire. This led to the invention of electric motors.
