Electricity is foundational to our modern lives, but it has a history that goes back hundreds — and even thousands — of years.
You probably know more than you think about the history of electricity, but we’ve got the full rundown here that is sure to have some surprises and interesting tidbits for you to bring out at your next dinner party.
So come follow along as we take a trip back through time to learn more about the history of electricity and the people whose discoveries and research have helped make sure our lights come on with a simple flick of a switch.
When Does the History of Electricity Begin?
There’s no better place to start the history of electricity than at the beginning, and for that, we need to go back more than 2,600 years to around 600 BC.
That year, a Greek philosopher named Thales of Miletus became the first person to observe the phenomenon of static electricity. He did this by rubbing together a chunk of amber with cat hair and silk, and noticed that after doing this the amber was able to attract dust, ash, feathers, and other light objects.
Though Thales of Miletus wasn’t aware of it at the time, he was observing static electricity, and this observation marks the beginning of the history of electricity.
Who Invented the Term “Electricity”?
Thales of Miletus didn’t use the term electricity to describe the static he observed. In fact, the word electricity wasn’t coined for another 2,200 years.
In 1600, an English physician and scientist named William Gilbert further experimented with static electricity using amber, following in Thales of Miletus’s footsteps. Something of a founding father for both electricity and magnetism, Gilbert published a book on magnetism in 1600 called De Magnete, and in this book he coined the term electricity to describe the static force he observed by rubbing amber with other materials.
Interestingly, the word electricity stems from the Latin and Greek words for amber (electrum and elektron, respectively). Who knew that the word that describes the force that powers modernity comes from the word for fossilized tree resin?
When Was the First Electrostatic Generator Invented?
In 1706, the English scientist Francis Hauksbee invented the world’s first electrostatic generator. This device could produce sparks by rubbing it as it rotated, and was one of the first steps towards creating electric light.
Later versions of electrostatic generators were able to generate high-voltage electric charges that could then be stored for future use. Francis Hauksbee’s work moved the history of electricity a step forward towards harnessing this force to use it when needed.
What Is a Leyden Jar and Why Is It Important?
The concept of a Leyden jar is no longer widely known, but it played an important part in the history of electricity. The Leyden jar was a device used to store static electricity, and it was invented independently by two scientists: the German inventor Ewald Georg von Kleist in 1745 and the Dutch physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1746.
Leyden jars built on the work Hauksbee did on the electrostatic generator, and in time they would be improved upon to create capacitors, which are used in a variety of modern electrical devices.
Why Was Benjamin Franklin’s Famous Kite So Important?
We’ve now come to the part of the history of electricity that most people are already familiar with. In 1752, the American founding father Benjamin Franklin performed a famous experiment with electricity by tying a key to a kite and flying it during a thunderstorm.
Many myths have grown up around this famous kite, and some historians dispute the idea that the kite was ever actually struck by lightning, arguing that such a strike could have hurt or even killed Benjamin Franklin.
This famous kite experiment was important in the history of electricity for a few reasons. First, it proved that lightning was a form of electricity — a fact we may take for granted now, but which was unknown at the time.
Second, Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment also gave other scientists interested in the idea of electric power a potential source of electricity generation to experiment with: lightning itself.
Finally, this experiment excited the public imagination over electric current, and helped bring more popular attention to the intriguing but still quite new science of electricity.
Why Is Alessandro Volta Important to Electricity?
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, an Italian scientist named Alessandro Volta made a series of breakthroughs in the field of electrification. One of the biggest milestones passed by Alessandro Volta was the invention in 1800 of the first electric battery that could store electric current, which he called the voltaic pile.
The voltaic pile became an important milestone in the history of electricity because it allowed scientists, inventors, and electrical experimenters that followed to charge circuits with a constant source of electricity.
This helped produce a number of further electricity innovations, including the electrolysis of water, first performed in 1800 by William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle using a voltaic pile.
Who Discovered the Electric Motor?
The first electric motor was discovered in 1821 by an English scientist named Michael Faraday. Michael Faraday discovered that by floating a copper wire in a glass jar filled with mercury, and then applying direct current to the copper wire, he could generate an electromagnetic field that caused the wire to rotate.
This was the first electric motor, and its core concepts would go on to help kickstart the industrial revolution.
What Is an Ohm and Who Is It Named After?
A German physicist named Georg Ohm helped establish the mathematical basis behind the workings of electricity. Ohm famously discovered what is now called Ohm‘s Law, which he published in a book in 1827. Ohm’s Law states that the electric current moving through a conductor is proportional to the voltage across the two points.
Ohm’s Law is still used today, as is the Ohm unit of measurement. The Ohm was named after Georg Ohm, and it measures electrical resistance.
When Did Electricity Start Powering Industry?
Up until this point, electricity remained primarily an academic subject, and its real-world applications were few and far between.
But in 1866 and 1867, a number of scientists — including Werner von Siemens, Charles Wheatstone, and Samuel Alfred Valley — built on Michael Faraday’s work with electric motors to create the dynamo. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of being used by industry, and they helped launch the industrial revolution.
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Was Thomas Edison Important to the History of Electricity?
Without a doubt, Thomas Edison is one of the most important figures in the history of electricity. He was an American inventor who was fascinated with electric power.
Thomas Edison made too many breakthroughs to list here, but he is best known for his work in creating the electric light bulb, and his advancement of the use of direct current for electric power distribution.
Direct current is useful today for charging batteries, powering electric motors, and even electricity generation (although direct current power is typically changed into alternating current power in transformers before being transmitted).
Thomas Edison was also credited with inventing the motion picture camera, the incandescent light bulb, and the phonograph.
Were Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla Rivals?
Eventually, yes, the inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla would go on to become rivals. Nikola Tesla was a founding father of electricity in the industrial revolution in his own right, but before rivaling Thomas Edison, he in fact worked for him in New York City.
Nikola Tesla only worked for Thomas Edison in his machine shop for a short six months before quitting, and Tesla would go on to champion a different form of electricity transmission called alternating current, or AC power.
Alternating current is better than direct current for transmitting high-voltage electricity over long distances, and Nikola Tesla’s work in this space helped set the foundation for our modern electrical grid.
The transmission lines that connect power stations and power plants — including nuclear power, fossil fuels, and renewable energy — all carry alternating current, which Nikola Tesla helped bring about.
When Did Electronic Appliances Become Common in Homes?
By the turn of the 20th century, industry was incorporating electricity into its operations, helping spur on the industrial revolution. Electric lights were lighting up homes, but electronic devices in the home were still a long way in coming.
Electric-powered refrigerators weren’t common until the 1930s. Televisions, powered by electricity, didn’t become common until the late 1940s and early 1950s. Home computers only became commonplace in the 1990s, and our internet-connected culture is still a relatively recent thing.
So while it may feel like electricity has been around forever, our whole electric power system is, historically at least, young. If you’re skeptical, just ask your grandparents about what their lives were like when they were young!
History of Electricity FAQs
When was electricity first used?
Electricity was first used in practical applications in the late 1800s, when early power stations enabled electric lighting. This shift marked the start of modern household electricity use.
Who invented electricity?
The person often associated with electricity is Alessandro Volta, who created the first true battery in 1800, but no one “invented” electricity because it naturally exists. Scientists like Benjamin Franklin, Michael Faraday, and Thomas Edison each contributed breakthroughs—Franklin in understanding electricity, Faraday in generating it, and Edison in bringing electric power and lighting into everyday use.
When was the power grid in Texas established?
When the power grid in Texas was established traces back to early utility interconnections in the 1920s, eventually forming a unified system in 1970 under ERCOT. This created the independent grid Texans use today. Consider learning more about Texas deregulation and your Power to Choose.
This Concludes Our Tour of the History of Electricity
We’ve come a long way from rubbing silk and cat fur against amber to create static electricity. Along our journey through the history of electricity, we’ve seen how scientists and inventors have continually built on the ideas and inventions of those that preceded them.
This was only a brief history of electricity. If you’re interested in learning more about electricity or a variety of other energy-related topics, you can dive into greater depth on the Tara Energy blog.
And if you’d like a deeper dive specifically into the history of electricity than we were able to do in this short article, it might be worth making a trip to your local library. Many books have been written on this subject, and if you dive deep enough into the history of electricity, you’re bound to learn something shocking!
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