History of

Electricity

Mohammad Avestan
Rohith Anand Varikoti
 Ancient Egyptian (2750 BCE) were
aware of shocks from electric fish
Thunderer of the Nile (protectors" of
all other fish)
 Electric fish were again reported
millennia later by ancient Greek,
Roman and Arabic naturalists and
physicians.
 They attested to the numbing effect of
electric shocks delivered by catfish and
electric rays, and knew that such
shocks could travel along conducting
objects
 Ancient cultures around the Mediterranean knew that
certain objects, such as rods of amber, could be rubbed
with cat's fur to attract light objects like feathers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity
 Thales of Miletus made a series of observations on
static electricity around 600 BCE

 The Parthians (old

Persia, (247 BC –
224 AD)) may have
had knowledge of
electroplating,
based on the 1936
discovery of the Young man with
Baghdad Battery, Parthian costume.
Palmyra, Syria, 1st half
which resembles a of the 3rd century AD.

 galvanic celland nearest approach to the discovery of

The earliest
the identity of lightning, and electricity from any other
source, is to be attributed to the Arabs, who before the
15th century had the Arabic word for lightning (raad)
applied to the electric ray
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity
 Electricity would remain little more than an
intellectual curiosity for millennia until 1600

 The English scientist

William Gilbert (father
of electricity and
magnetism) made a
careful study of electricity
and magnetism,
distinguishing the
lodestone effect from static
electricity produced by
rubbing amber. He coined
the New Latin word
 Further work was
“electricus” conducted
(the Greek by Otto von Guericke,
Robert
word forBoyle, Stephen Gray and C. F. du Fay. In the
"amber")
18th century
Most people give credit to
Benjamin Franklin for
discovering electricity.

In 1752, Ben Franklin

conducted his
experiment with a
kite, a key, and a
storm.

This simply proved

that lightning and
tiny electric sparks
were the same
thing.
http://www.universetoday.com/82402/who-discovered-
electricity/
http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/history-electricity/
 Up until that time, scientists had mainly known
about and experimented with static electricity.
Benjamin Franklin took things a big step ahead. He
came up with the idea that electricity had positive
and negative elements and that electricity flowed
between these elements

 In 1791, Luigi Galvani published

his discovery of
bioelectromagnetics,
demonstrating that electricity was
the medium by which neurons
passed signals to the muscles.
 Alessandro Volta's battery, or
voltaic pile, of 1800, made from
alternating layers of zinc and
copper, provided scientists with
a more reliable source of
electrical energy than the
electrostatic machines
previously used.

 When a wire was connected to both

ends of the pile, a steady current
flowed
A Voltaic Pile
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200603/histor
 1821 --- First electric motor was invented by
Michael Faraday
 1832 --- Hippolyte Pixii - the first “dynamo,”
an electric generator capable of delivering
power for industry (Using Faraday’s
principles)
 1839-1842 --- Sir William Robert Grove
developed the first fuel cell, a device that
produces electrical energy by combining
hydrogen and oxygen
 1878 --- Joseph Swan, and Englishman,
invented the first incandescent
lightbulb/electric lamp. His lightbulb burned
out quickly.
 Charles Brush developed an arc lamp that
could be powered by a generator.
 Thomas Edison founded the Edison Electric
Light Co. (US), in New York City. He bought a
number of patents related to electric lighting.
 1879 --- 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.
 1879 --- Electric lights were first used for public
street lighting, in Cleveland, Ohio.
 California Electric Light Company, Inc. in San
Fransicso was the first electric company to sell
electricity to customers. The company used two
small Brush generators to power 21 Brush arc
light lamps.
 1881 --- The electric streetcar was invented by
E.W. v. Siemens
 1882 --- Thomas Edison opened the Pearl Street
Power Station in New York City. The Pearl Street
Station was one of the world’s first central electric
power plants and could power 5,000 lights. The
Pearl Street Station was a direct current (DC)
power system.
 The first hydroelectric station opened in
Wisconsin.
 1883 --- Nikola Tesla invented the “Tesla
coil”, a transformer that changes electricity
from low voltage to high voltage making it
easier to transport over long distances.
 Steam turbine generator, capable of
generating huge amounts of electricity,
was invented by Sir Charles Algernon
Parsons.
 1888 --- Charles Brush -- the first use of a
large windmill to generate electricity. He
used the windmill to charge batteries in
the cellar of his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
 1893 --- A 22 mile AC powerline was
opened, sending electricity from Folsom
Powerhouse in California to Sacramento.
 1896 --- An AC powerline that transmits
power 20 miles from Niagra Falls to Buffalo,
New York was opened.
 1901 --- First power line between USA and
Canada at Niagra Falls.
 1902 --- 5-Megawatt turbine for Fisk St. Station (Chicago).
 1903 --- First successful gas turbine (France) & World’s first all
turbine station (Chicago).
 1920 --- Federal Power Commission (FPC) --- Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC)
 1921 --- Lakeside Power Plant in Wisconsin becomes the world’s first
power plant to burn only pulverized coal.
 1923 --- Photoelectric cells were discovered.
 1928 --- Construction of Boulder Dam begins.
 1936 Boulder (Hoover) Dam was completed. A 287 Kilovolt power
line stretched 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam. --- Rural
Electrification Act.
 1953 --- First nuclear power station ordered in England.
 1954 --- World’s first nuclear power plant (Russia) started
generating electricity.
 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows private ownership of nuclear
reactors.
 1957 Shipping port Reactor in Pennsylvania was the first nuclear
power plant to provide electricity to customers in the U.S.
 Two 1600 MW European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) are
being built in Europe, and two are being built in China. The
reactors are a joint effort of French AREVA and German
Siemens AG, and will be the largest reactors in the world.
 As of March 2007, there are seven nuclear power stations
under construction in India, and five in China.
 In November 2011 Gulf Power stated that by the end of
2012 it hopes to finish buying off 4000 acres of land north
of Pensacola, Florida in order to build a possible nuclear
power station.
 In 2010 Russia launched a floating nuclear power station.
The £100 million vessel, the Akademik Lomonosov, is the
first of seven stations that will bring vital energy resources
to remote Russian regions.
 By 2025, Southeast Asia nations would have a total of 29
nuclear power stations, Indonesia will have 4 nuclear power
stations, Malaysia 4, Thailand 5 and Vietnam 16 from
nothing at all in 2011.
 In 2013 China had 32 nuclear reactors under construction,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/power-plants/
References:

 http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1919956,00.html
 https
://nz.pinterest.com/oldwoodward/vintage-wisconsin-hydroelectric-power-
plants-and-p
/
 https://www.siemens.com/history/en/news/1075_electrical-streetcar.htm
 https://protonex.com/blog/fuel-cell-history-1839-to-today /
 http://www.history.com/topics/hoover-dam
 http://
www.robinsonlibrary.com/technology/engineering/biography/parsons.ht
m
 http://
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/08/charles_brush_used_wind_power.htm
l
 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/208713763950863891 /
 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nikola_Tesla,_
with_his_equipment_Wellcome_M0014782.jpg
 http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/future-energy /
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_plant
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Energy_Regulatory_Commission