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Electricity Timeline

600BC

Static electricity

Thales, a Greek, found that when amber was rubbed with silk it attracted feathers and other light objects. He had discovered static electricity. The Greek word for amber is ëelectron', from which we get ëelectricity' and ëelectronics'.

1600 William Gilbert invented the term electricity William Gilbert, scientist and physician to Queen Elizabeth I, invented the term electricity (from the Greek word for amber, elecktra). He was the first person to describe the earth's magnetic field and to realise that there is a relationship between magnetism and electricity.
1700s

Machines to produce static electricity were introduced in the 1700s - at first just as fun 'parlour trick machines'. They developed over the next century and culminated in the Wimshurst machine in the late 1800s.

This produced static electricity easily and reliably. Two parallel plates are rotated in opposite directions, which produces a charge around the edges of the plates. The charge is collected by a system of combs. Voltages as high as 50,000 volts can be produced, depending on humidity and other conditions, as well as sparks up to four inches long.

1705 Francis Hauksbee invented Neon Light Francis Hauksbee created electrical effects by putting some mercury into a glass globe, pumping out the air and then spinning it. When he did this in the dark, and then rubbed the globe with his bare hand, it glowed. (He didn't realise it, but he had invented the neon light!)
1752 Franklin proved that lightning is a form of electricity Benjamin Franklin, famous U.S. politician, flew a kite with a metal tip into a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is a form of electricity. He was very lucky he wasn't killed. Don't try this at home!
1780 Luigi Galvani's dead frog's legs An Italian called Luigi Galvani discovered that when he touched a dead frog's leg with a knife, it twitched violently. Alessandro Volta later showed that this was because electricity is created when moisture (from the frog) comes between two different types of metal (the steel knife and a tin plate).
1800 Volta's Pile Volta created the first simple battery. He used pure silver and zinc discs, sandwiched between muslin damped in a salt solution, developed from Galvani's earlier experiments with a frog's leg.
Sir Humphry Davy discovered Electrolysis Sir Humphry Davy discovered that when he passed an electric current through some substances they decomposed. This process later became known as electrolysis. Davy's experiments with electrolysis led to the discovery of a number of elements, including magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium.
1820 Hans Christian Oersted discovered magnetic fields caused by electricity 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 that led to the invention of electric motors Michael Faraday discovered that when a magnet is moved inside a coil of copper wire, a tiny electric current flows through the wire. This discovery later led to the invention of electric motors.
Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered Thermo-electricity Thomas Johann Seebeck found that when the junction of certain metals is heated, electricity flows - thermo-electricity.
1826 André Ampère explained the electro-dynamic theory André Ampère published his theories about electricity and magnetism. He was the first person to explain the electro-dynamic theory. The unit of electric current was named after Ampère.
1827 Georg Ohm published his complete mathematical theory of electricity German college teacher Georg Ohm published his complete mathematical theory of electricity. The unit of electrical resistance was later named after him.
1829 Joseph Henry's discovery into electromagnetism Joseph Henry showed that a wire wrapped in coils produces a greater electromagnetism than a straight one.
1830 Joseph Henry discovered the principles of the dynamo Joseph Henry discovered the principles of the dynamo.
1831 Michael Faraday demonstrated electromagnetic induction Michael Faraday demonstrated electromagnetic induction by passing a magnet through a coil of wire.
The First Telegraph Machine Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke created the first telegraph machine.
1834 Charles Wheatstone measured the velocity of electricity Charles Wheatstone used a revolving mirror and four miles of wire to measure the velocity of electricity.
1838 Samuel Morse invented Morse Code At an exhibition in New York, Samuel Morse demonstrated sending 10 words a minute by his new telegraph machine. He used a system of dots and dashes, which later became standard throughout the world, known as Morse code.
1870s Thomas Edison built a DC electric generator Thomas Edison built a DC (direct current) electric generator in America. He later provided all of New York's electricity.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, used electricity to transmit speech for the first time.
1878 Joseph Swan demonstrated the first Electric Light Joseph Swan, a British scientist, demonstrated the first electric light with a carbon filament lamp. A few months later, Thomas Edison made the same discovery in America.
1880s Nikola Tesla developed an AC motor Nikola Tesla developed an AC (alternating current) motor and a system of AC power generation. Edison saw Tesla's system as a threat to his DC supply and spread stories that it wasn't not safe. But, after Tesla's system was used to power 100,000 electric lights at Chicago's World Fair in 1893, AC became the established power supply in the USA.
Nikola Tesla invented the Telsa Coil Nikola Tesla used the ëTesla coil' to step up ordinary household current to produce extremely high frequency current. Tesla used this high frequency current to develop some of the first neon and fluorescent lights.
1881 The first public electricity supply The first public electricity supply was generated in Godalming, Surrey using a waterwheel at a nearby mill.
1883 Magnus Volks built the first electric railway The first electric railway opened on Brighton seafront, built by electrical engineer Magnus Volks. The Volks Railway, built just for pleasure rides, is one mile long and still runs during the summer season.
1884 Charles Parsons built his first turbine Charles Parsons built his first turbine. This is a type of engine which is operated by jets of high pressure gases. This type of engine was later developed to drive the propellers of boats, including the Titanic.
1886 Heinrich Hertz produced and detected electric waves Heinrich Hertz produced and detected electric waves in the atmosphere. 1890: Turbine driven generators Turbine driven generators were introduced to produce electricity.
1892 Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz published his electron theory.
1895 The first electric hand drill The first electric hand drill became available, invented by Wilhelm Fein.
Discovery of X-rays The German phsyicist Wilhelm Roentgen discovered invisible rays that made a distant screen glow and passed through objects. These were X-rays.
1896 Nikola Tesla's hydroelectric power generators Nikola Tesla's hydroelectric power generators at Niagara Falls came into operation. Within a few years, Tesla's generators at Niagara Falls were supplying electricity to New York City for the elevated railways, the subways and even the lights on Broadway.
1897 Marconi sends radio message Guglielmo Marconi sends a radio message from The Isle of Wight to Poole (20 miles away). Later he sends a message across the Atlantic.
1905 Albert Einstein demonstrated that light energy could be used to produce electricity ñ the idea behind photovoltaic cells was born.
1918 Electric washing machines and refrigerators first became available.
1926 First National Grid was introduced in the Electricity Supply Act
1930s Hydro-electric power stations Hydro-electric power stations were built in Scotland and Wales in the 1930s and 1940s, but the majority of electricity generation was from burning coal.
Electrical household appliances were introduced and mains powered radios, vacuum cleaners, irons and fridges became part of almost every household by the 1940s.
1936 John Logie Baird pioneered the television.
1956 The world's first large-scale nuclear power station opened at Calder Hall in Cumbria. The reactors were a prototype of the Magnox gas cooled reactor.
1960s The UK decided to develop advanced gas cooled reactors to succeed the earlier Magnox stations. Around the same time, France and the USA decided to adopt water cooled reactor technology.
1994 The UK's first pressurised water reactor The UK's first pressurised water reactor (PWR) was opened at Sizewell B in Suffolk. It had taken 7 years to build, after the largest ever public enquiry in the UK.
2000 The world's first commercial wave power station on the Scottish island of Islay began to generate electricity. Devices are placed on the shoreline or out at sea that use wave motion to compress air to drive a turbine or hydraulic pumps. The station is called LIMPET (Land-Installed Marine-Powered Energy Transformer) and can provide enough electricity for about 400 homes.

This page is extracted from a page first developed by British Energy and distributed by the ASE as a useful resource for physics teachers in the early 2000s