Inventors & Inventions Inventors & Inventions Tweet The Direct Action Committee, a group pushing for nuclear disarmament, invented the peace symbol in 1958. The forked symbol is actually a composite of the semaphore signals "N" and "D," to stand for nuclear disarmament. Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been over mixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float.Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated,and it has floated ever since. [It floats in gasoline, too.] Fortune cookies were invented in San Fransisco around 1914. In 1983 a judge decided that the modern fortune cookie came from San Fransisco. Source The Frisbee originated in the 1950s, when Yale students started the practice of playing catch with the pie-tins put out by the Frisbie Baking Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company went out of business in 1957, but a few of their "5 cent deposit"pie-tins remain and are being hoarded by avid Frisbee collectors. Diet Coke was only invented in 1982.

Naugahyde, plastic "leather" was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut. As of 1940, total of ninety patents had been taken out on shaving mugs. A teenager invented a quick-release ratchet and offered the patent to Sears. Sears told him the patent was valueless and gave him $10,000, then went on to make $44 million selling the ratchets. Source It took three years of constant printing to complete Johann Gutenberg's famous Bible, which appeared in 1455 in two volumes, and had 1,284 pages. He reportedly printed 200 Bibles, of which 47 still exist. Madame Alexander dolls were the creation of Beatrice Alexander Behrman, the daughter of Russian immigrants. Mrs. Behrman, whose father operated New York's first doll "hospital," started making dolls in 1923, and her creations soon became famous for their molded heads and limbs, lifelike eyes, rooted hair and elaborate costumes. Mrs. Behrman sold the company to several New York investors in 1988, two years before she died at age 95.

But America's first and only remaining doll manufacturer has not compromised her high standard of quality and unique craftsmanship. Today, most of the company's manufacturing is still done in Harlem, New York, and more than 500,000 dolls a year are sold. Dr. Samuel Langley was able to get many model airplanes to fly, but on December 8, 1903, Langley's "human carrying flying machine", the aerodrome plunged into the Potomac River near Washington D.C., in front of photographers who were assembled to witness the event. Reporters around the country made fun of the idea that people could fly and nine days later, Wilbur and Orville Wright proved them wrong. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola. Self-made millionaire Cyrus Field championed the idea of a telegraph from England to Newfoundland. Britain quickly agreed to subsidize. Congress went along by a one-vote margin. That was in 1856. Laying cable was tough. It kept breaking. The first line - two years later - died almost immediately.

But 10 years later, there were two working lines. Communications changed forever. The first lightweight luggage designed for air travel was conceived by aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. Donald F. Duncan, the man who made the yo-yo an American tradition, is also credited with popularizing the parking meter and introducing Good Humor "ice cream on a stick. {googleAds} {/googleAds} Eastman Kodak's Brownie camera cost $1.00 when it was introduced in 1900. Sylvan N. Goldman of Humpty Dumpty Stores and Standard Food Markets developed the shopping cart so that people could buy more in a single visit to the grocery store. He unveiled his creation in Oklahoma City on June 4, 1937. Frederick Winthrop Thayer of Massachusetts and the captain of the Harvard University Baseball Club received a patent for his baseball catcher's mask on February 12, 1878. The first coin operated machine ever designed was a holy-water dispenser that required a five-drachma piece to operate. It was the brainchild of the Greek scientist Hero in the first century AD.

Ornithologists often use Scotch tape to cover cracks in the soft shells of fertilized pigeon eggs, allowing the eggs to hatch. Scotch tape has also been used as an anti-corrosive shield on the Goodyear Blimp. The power lawn mower was invented by Ransom E. Olds (of Oldsmobile fame) in 1915. The shoestring was invented in England in 1790, Prior to this time all shoes were fastened with buckles. The single blade window cleaning squeegee was invented in 1936 by Ettore Sceccone and is still the most common form of commercial window cleaning today. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was albino. Edison improved the incandescent lamp in 1879, but he didn't actually invent it. Sir Humphrey Davy is reputed to be the true inventor of the electric light. He passed electricity through a platinum wire and caused an arc lamp to glow as early as 1802. However, Davy did not pursue the discovery.

By the time Edison entered the scene, arc lamps had been burning for several decades, but were limited by short life spans. Edison developed a long-lasting filament light in 1877, and in 1879 produced the first long-lasting light bulb. The man who invented shorthand, John Gregg, was deaf. Because he felt such an important tool should be public property, English chemist John Walker never patented his invention — matches. The hypodermic needle was invented in 1853. It was initially used for giving injections of morphine as a painkiller. Physicians mistakenly believed that morphine would not be addictive if it by-passed the digestive tract. Thomas Edison’s first major invention was the quadruplex telegraph. Unlike other telegraphs at the time, it could send four messages at the same time over one wire. Inventor Gail Borden, Jr. invented condensed milk in the 1850's. After his death in 1937, Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraph was honored by broadcasters worldwide as they let the airwaves fall silent for two minutes in his memory.

Pez was invented in 1927 by Eduard Haas, an Austrian anti-smoking fanatic, who marketed peppermint-flavored PEZ as a cigarette substitute. The candy gets its name from the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminze. Haas brought the candy to the U.S. in 1952. It bombed, so he reintroduced it as a children's toy, complete with cartoon heads and fruity flavors. One of the most secretive companies in the U.S., PEZ won't even disclose who currently owns the company. The Nobel Prize resulted from a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence - he invented dynamite. Alfred Nobel us ed a cellulose adhesive (nitrocellulose) as the chemical binder for nitroglycerin, which he used in his invention of dynamite. Germany holds the title for most independent inventors to apply for patents. Noxema, the skin cream invented in 1914 by Baltimore pharmacist George Bunting, was originally sold as "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy." Mr.

Bunting changed the name to Noxema after a customer enthusiastically told him the cream had "knocked out his eczema." Thus, the cream that "knocks eczema" became "Noxema". George Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera, hated having his picture taken. Root Beer was invented in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr. Because Napoleon believed that armies marched on their stomachs, he offered a prize in 1795 for a practical way of preserving food. The prize was won by a French inventor, Nicholas Appert. What he devised was canning. It was the beginning of the canned food industry of today. Bavarian immigrant Charles August Fey invented the first three-reel automatic payout slot machine, the Liberty Bell, in San Francisco in 1899. More than 5,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered how to make silk from silkworm cocoons. For about 3,000 years, the Chinese kept this discovery a secret. Because poor people could not afford real silk, they tried to make other cloth look silky. Women would beat on cotton with sticks to soften the fibers.

Then they rubbed it against a big stone to make it shiny. The shiny cotton was called "chintz." Because chintz was a cheaper copy of silk, calling something "chintzy" means it is cheap and not of good quality. Incan soldiers invented the process of freeze-drying food. The process was primitive but effective — potatoes would be left outside to freeze overnight, then thawed and stomped on to remove excess water. The first wooden shoe comes from the Netherlands. The Netherlands have many seas so people wanted a shoe that kept their feet dry while working outside. The shoes were called klompen and they had been cut of one single piece of wood. Today the klompen are the favorite souvenir for people who visit the Netherlands. When airplanes were still a novel invention, seat belts for pilots were installed only after the consequence of their absence was observed to be fatal - several pilots fell to their deaths while flying upside down. The first Bowie knife was forged at Washington, Arkansas. The supersonic Concorde jet made its first trial flight on January 1, 1969. Duffel bags are named after a town of Duffel, Belgium, where they were first made.

The commercial wireless phone was first introduced in Chicago in 1982 by Ameritech. The safety pin was patented in 1849 by Walter Hunt. He sold the patent rights for $400. The first Fords used Dodge engines. Many ford vehicles now use Nissan engines, especially in Mini-vans. The first portable calculator placed on sale by Texas Instruments weighed only 2-1/2 pounds and cost a mere $150. (1971) In 1937 the emergency 999 telephone service was established in London. More than 13,000 genuine calls were made in the first month. In 1889, the 1st coin-operated telephone, patented by Hartford, Connecticut inventor William Gray, was installed in the Hartford Bank. In 1977, according to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, there were 14.5 telephone calls made for every 100 people in the entire world. Humphrey O'Sullivan invented the rubber heel because he was tired of pounding the pavements of Boston looking for a job.

Hungarian brothers George and L"szlo Biro invented the ball point pen in 1938. Seating on the first scheduled inter-city commuter airplane flight consisted of moveable wicker chairs. There were 11 of them on the first Ford Tri-Motors. After several years, Ford replaced them with aluminum framed leather chairs. The first man-made item to exceed the speed of sound is the bull whip or leather whip. When the whip is snapped, the knotted end makes a "crack" or popping noise. It is actually causing a mini sonic boom as it exceeds the speed of sound. Cornelius van Drebel, a Dutch physician, built and successfully demonstrated the first submarine in 1620. It was a wooden framework covered with greased leather. The propulsion was provided by oars worked from the inside. It was tested in the Thames River in London. Venetian blinds were invented in Japan. Henry Waterman, of New York, invented the elevator in 1850. He intended it to transport barrels of flour. John Greenwood, also of New York invented the dental drill in 1790. The corkscrew was invented by M.L.

Bryn, also of New York, in 1860. Electrical hearing aids were invented in 1901 by Miller R. Hutchinson, who was (you guessed it) from New York. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine for polio in 1952, in New York. The first words that Thomas A. Edison spoke into the phonograph were, "Mary had a little lamb." In the early 1800s, a French silk weaver called Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented a way of automatically controlling the warp and weft threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of holes in a string of cards. Gutenburg invented the printing press in the 1450's, and the first book to ever be printed was the Bible. It was, however, in Latin rather than English. The toothbrush was invented in 1498. The waffle iron was invented August 24, 1869. The alarm clock was not invented by the Marquis de Sade, as some suspect, but rather by a man named Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire, in 1787.

Perversity, though, characterized his invention from the beginning. The alarm on his clock could ring only at 4 am. Rumor has it that Hutchins was murdered by his wife at 4:05 am on a very dark and deeply cold New England morning. Craven Walker invented the lava lamp, and its contents are colored wax and water. In 1916, Jones Wister of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania invented a rifle for shooting around corners. It had a curved barrel and periscopic sights. The same man who led the attack on the Alamo, Mexican Military General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, is also credited with the invention of chewing gum. The parachute was invented by Leonardo da Vinci in 1515. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors. Lazy Susans are named after Thomas Edison's daughter. He invented it to impress a gathering of industrialists and inventors. Cyano-acrylate glues (super glue) were invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them. When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart.

A device invented as a primitive steam engine by the Greek engineer Hero, about the time of the birth of Christ, is used today as a rotating lawn sprinkler. A machine has been invented that can read printed English books aloud to the blind, and it can do so at speed half again as fast as normal speech. Games Slayter, a Purdue graduate, invented fiberglass. Teflon was discovered in 1938. Alfred Nobel used a cellulose adhesive (nitrocellulose) as the chemical binder for nitroglycerin, which he used in his invention of dynamite. At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, Richard Blechyden, and Englishman, had a tea concession. On a very hot day, none of the fairgoers were interested in hot tea. Blechyden served the tea cold—and invented iced tea. The first known item made from aluminum was a rattle—made for Napoleon III in the 1850s. Napoleon also provided his most honored guests with knives and forks made of pure aluminum. At the time the newly discovered metal was so rare, it was considered more valuable than gold.

Hale's 100 inch lens built in the early 1900s was the largest solid piece of glass made until then. The lens was made by a French specialist who poured the equivalent of ten thousand melted champagne bottles into a mold packed with heat maintaining manure so that the glass would cool slowly and not crack. When Alexander Graham Bell Was working on the telephone in 1876, he spilled battery acid on his pants and called out to his assistant, "Watson, please come here. I want you." Watson, who was on another floor, heard the call through the instrument he was hooking up, and ran to Bell's room. Bell's words became the first ever successfully communicated using a telephone. Dutch engineers have developed a computerized machine that allows a cow to milk itself. Each cow in the herd has a computer chip in its collar. If the computer senses that the cow has not been milked in a given period of time, the milk-laden animal is allowed to enter the stall. The robot sensors locate the teats, apply the vacuum devices, and the cow is milked. The machine costs a mere $250,000 and is said to boost milk production by 15%.

Out of the 11 original patents made by Nikola Tessla, for the generation of hydroelectric energy, 9 are still in use, (unchanged) today. The windmill originated in Iran in AD 644. It was used to grind grain. Russian submarine designers are building military submarines out of concrete. Because concrete becomes stronger under high pressure, (C-subs) could settle down to the bottom in very deep water and wait for enemy ships to pass overhead. Concrete would not show up on sonar displays (it looks just like sand or rocks), so the passing ships would not see the sub lurking below. The first umbrella factory in the U.S. was founded in 1928 in Baltimore, Maryland. In the early 1950's, Denver architect Temple H. Buell, often called the Father of the Mall, conceived of and built one of the first shopping malls in the U.S.: the Cherry Creek Mall. During one four-year period, Thomas Edison obtained 300 patents, or one every five days. The Wright Brothers spent time observing the flight of the buzzard to help them solve the mystery of flight.

They realized that the bird retained balance in the air by twisting the tips of it's wings. By creating a wing warping method based upon this observation, the brothers were able to obtain a remarkable degree of maneuverability. In 1832 the Scottish surgeon Neil Arnott devised water beds as a way of improving patients' comfort. In 1769 the British designer Edward Beran enclosed wooden slats in a frame to adjust the amount of light let into a room. These became known as venetian blinds from their early use over Italianate windows. George Seldon received a patent in 1895 - for the automobile. Four years later, George sold the rights for $200,000. Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972), the mother of 12 children, had good reason to improve the efficiency and convenience of household items. A pioneer in ergonomics, Gilbreth patented many devices, including an electric food mixer, and the trash can with step-on lid-opener that can be found in most households today. Direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service began as Mayor M.

Leslie Denning of Englewood, New Jersey, called his counterpart in Alameda, California. Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks. G.I. Joe was introduced at the annual American International Toy Fair in New York on Feb. 9, 1964. George Hancock invented a new game on November 30, 1887. It was played like baseball, except a broomstick was used for a bat and a boxing glove was the ball. Since the game was played indoors, it was originally called "indoor." Walter Hakanson later renamed it "softball." The City and South London Railway opened the world's first deep-level electric railway on December 18th, 1890, from King William Street in the City of London under the River Thames to Stockwell. Today, the London Underground Limited (LUL) is a major business with 2.5 million passenger journeys a day, nearly 500 trains, serving over 260 stations, around 16,000 staff and vast engineering assets. Dr.

Samuel Langley was able to get many model airplanes to fly, but on December 8, 1903, Langley's "human carrying flying machine", the aerodrome plunged into the Potomac River near Washington D.C., in front of photographers who were assembled to witness the event. Reporters around the country made fun of the idea that people could fly and nine days later, Wilbur and Orville Wright proved them wrong. In the year 1886, Herman Hollerith had the idea of using punched cards to keep and transport information, a technology used up to the late 1970's. This device was constructed to allow the 1890 census to be tabulated. In 1896 the Tabulating Machine Company was founded by Hollerith. Twenty-eight years later, in 1924, after several take-overs the company became known as International Business Machines (IBM). Spiral staircases in medieval castles are running clockwise. This is because all knights used to be right-handed. When the intruding army would climb the stairs they would not be able to use their right hand which was holding the sword because of the difficulties of climbing the stairs.

Left-handed knights would have had no troubles, except left-handed people could never become knights because it was assumed that they were descendants of the devil. In Japan, Western Electric first sold equipment in 1890, then in 1899 helped form the Nippon Electric Company (NEC). This was Japan's first joint venture with an American firm. Northern Telecom, Alcatel N.V. and NEC all had roots in Western Electric. In 1953, Sony Corporation obtained a transistor license from Western Electric Co. that led to its development of the world's first commercially successful transistor radio. Just like today's computers, early telephones were very confusing to new users. Some became so frustrated with the new technology, they attacked the phone with an ax or ripped it out of the wall. In the early 1880's some well-to-do telephone owners started the unusual trend of paying to have a theatre employee hold a telephone receiver backstage, transmitting live plays and operas into their living rooms. The famous emergency hotline, whereby the President could have immediate contact with the Kremlin wasn't established until 1984.

Prior to 1984, the only direct contact to the Kremlin was a cumbersome teleprinter link, supplying text messages that then had to be translated, responses drafted and sent back. William Bourne, a British mathematician, drew plans for a submarine in 1578. But it was only in 1620 that Cornelius van Drebbel, a Dutch inventor, managed to build a submarine. He wrapped a wooden rowboat tightly in waterproofed leather and had air tubes with floats to the surface to provide oxygen. Of course, there were no engines yet, so the oars went through the hull at leather gaskets. He took the first trip with 12 oarsmen in the Thames River. It has been determined that less than one patented invention in a hundred makes any money for the inventor. It was Swiss chemist Jacques Edwin Brandenberger who invented cellophane, back in 1908. James J. Ritty, owner of a tavern in Dayton, Ohio, invented the cash register in 1879 to stop his patrons from pilfering house profits. The monkey wrench is named after its inventor, a London blacksmith named Charles Moncke.

The pop top can was invented in Kettering, Ohio by Ermal Fraze. George Seldon received a patent in 1895 - for the automobile. Four years later, George sold the rights for $200,000. You could milk about six cows per hour by hand, but with modern machinery, you can milk up to 100 cows per hour. Direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service began as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, New Jersey, called his counterpart in Alameda, California. Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks. Bryan J. Patrie, a Stanford graduate student invented the Watercolor Intelligent Nightlight, which informs bleary-eyed midnight bathroom-goers whether the toilet seat is up or down... without turning on a blinding light. Patrie introduced the device in the early 1990's. He explained, "When you get within five feet of the dark commode, it will sense your motion. It looks to see if the room is dark. Then it looks upward by sending out an infrared beam. If it gets a reflection, it knows the seat is up.

If it is, the red light comes on." On the first neon sign, the word neon was spelled out in red by Dr. Perley G. Nutting, 15 years before neon signs became widely used commercially. Out of the 11 original patents made by Nikola Tessla, for the generation of hydroelectric energy, 9 are still in use, (unchanged) today. The first umbrella factory in the U.S. was founded in 1928 in Baltimore, Maryland. In the early 1950's, Denver architect Temple H. Buell, often called the Father of the Mall, conceived of and built one of the first shopping malls in the U.S.: the Cherry Creek Mall. Month after month, the little Bell Company lived from hand to mouth. No salaries were paid in full. Often, for weeks, they were not paid at all. In Watson's notebook there are such entries during this period as "Lent Bell fifty cents," "Lent Hubbard twenty cents," "Bought one bottle beer—too bad can't have beer every day." When Bell's patent was sixteen months old, there were 778 telephones in use.

The first "Hello" badge used to identify guests and hosts at conventions, parties, etc. was traced back to September 1880. It was on that date that the first Telephone Operators Convention was held at Niagara Falls and the "Hello" badge was created for that event. The first underground and underwater rail system in the world, the New York City Subway, began operating in 1904. Almost 8,000 men participated in building the 21-mile (33.6 km) route. The project's chief engineer was William Barclay Parsons. An Englishman invented Scotland's national dress - the kilt. It was developed from the philamore - a massive piece of tartan worn with a belt and draped over the shoulder - by English industrialist Thomas Rawlinson who ran a foundry at Lochaber, Scotland in the early 1700s and thought a detachable garment would make life more comfortable for his workers. It is recorded that the Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. and that it was known to the Phoenicians around 600 B.C.

These early references to soap and soap making were for the use of soap in the cleaning of textile fibers such as wool and cotton in preparation for weaving into cloth. Disc Jockey Alan Freed popularized the term "Rock and Roll." The patent number of the telephone is 174465. George Washington Carver invented peanut butter. The Roman civilization invented the arch. King Gilette spent 8 years trying to invent and introduce his safety razor. The Super Ball® was born in 1965, and it became America's most popular plaything that year. By Christmas time, only six months after it was introduced by Wham-O, 7 million balls had been sold at 98 cents apiece. Norman Stingley, a California chemist, invented the bouncing gray ball. In his spare time, he had compressed a synthetic rubber material under 3,500 pounds of pressure per square inch, and eventually created the remarkable ball. It had a resiliency of 92 percent, about three times that of a tennis ball, and could bounce for long periods. It was reported that presidential aide McGeorge Bundy had five dozen Super Balls® shipped to the White House for the amusement of staffers.

At a glance, the Celsius scale makes more sense than the Fahrenheit scale for temperature measuring. But its creator, Anders Celsius, was an oddball scientist. When he first developed his scale, he made freezing 100 degrees and boiling 0 degrees, or upside down. No one dared point this out to him, so fellow scientists waited until Celsius died to change the scale. At a jet plane's speed of 1,000 km (620mi) per hour, the length of the plane becomes one atom shorter than its original length. Western Electric successfully brought sound to motion pictures and introduced systems of mobile communications which culminated in the cellular telephone. On December 23, 1947, Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., held a secret demonstration of the transistor which marked the foundation of modern electronics. Bavarian immigrant Charles August Fey invented the first three-reel automatic payout slot machine, the Liberty Bell, in San Francisco in 1899. Dr. John Gorrie of Appalachicola, Florida, invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851. He patented his device on May 6, 1851.

There is a statue which honors this "Father of Modern Day Air Conditioning" in the Statuary Hall of the Capitol building in Washington, DC. Electrical hearing aids were invented in 1901 by Miller R. Hutchinson. In 1889, the first coin-operated telephone, patented by Hartford, Connecticut inventor William Gray, was installed in the Hartford Bank. Soon, "pay phones" were installed in stores, hotels, saloons, and restaurants, and their use soared. Local calls using a coin-operated phone in the U.S. cost only 5 cents everywhere until 1951. The first commercial vacuum cleaner was so large it was mounted on a wagon. People threw parties in their homes so guests could watch the new device do its job. The parachute was invented by Leonardo da Vinci in 1515. Lazy Susans are named after Thomas Edison's daughter. He invented it to impress a gathering of industrialists and inventors. Cyano-acrylate glues (super glue) were invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them.

When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart. A machine has been invented that can read printed English books aloud to the blind, and it can do so at speed half again as fast as normal speech. The single blade window cleaning squeegee was invented in 1936 by Ettore Sceccone and is still the most common form of commercial window cleaning today. Roulette was invented by the great French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It was a by product of his experiments with perpetual motion. The man who invented shorthand, John Gregg, was deaf. The hypodermic needle was invented in 1853. It was initially used for giving injections of morphine as a painkiller. Physicians mistakenly believed that morphine would not be addictive if it by-passed the digestive tract. Thomas Edison’s first major invention was the quadruplex telegraph. Unlike other telegraphs at the time, it could send four messages at the same time over one wire. Inventor Gail Borden, Jr. invented condensed milk in the 1850's.

After his death in 1937, Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraph was honored by broadcasters worldwide as they let the airwaves fall silent for two minutes in his memory. In the year 1886, Herman Hollerith had the idea of using punched cards to keep and transport information, a technology used up to the late 1970's. This device was constructed to allow the 1890 census to be tabulated. In 1896 the Tabulating Machine Company was founded by Hollerith. Twenty-eight years later, in 1924, after several take-overs the company became known as International Business Machines (IBM). At the turn of the century, most light bulbs were hand-blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day's pay for the average U.S. worker. Camel's-hair brushes are not made of camel's hair. They were invented by a man named Mr. Camel. Western Electric invented the loudspeaker which was initially called "loud-speaking telephone." Phone service was established at the White House one year after its invention. President Rutherford B.

Hayes was the first to have phone service (1877-81). Fifteen years after its invention in 1876, there were five million phones in America. Fifteen years after its invention, more than 33 million wireless phones were in the U.S. According to U.S. law, a patent may not be granted on a useless invention, on a method of doing business, on mere printed matter, or on a device or machine that will not operate. Even if an invention is novel or new, a patent may not be obtained if the invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the same area at the time of the invention. According to Dennis Changon, spokesman for the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal, Canada - if all of the commercial planes in the world were grounded at the same time there wouldn't be space to park them all at gates. In 1931, an industrialist named Robert Ilg built a half-size replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa outside Chicago and lived in it for several years. The tower is still there. The first manager of the Seattle Space Needle, Hoge Sullivan, was acrophobic - fearful of heights.

The 605 foot tall Space Needle is fastened to its foundation with 72 bolts, each 30 feet long. The Space Needle sways approximately 1 inch for every 10 mph of wind. It was built to withstand a wind velocity of 200 miles-per-hour. The first revolving restaurant, The Top of the Needle, was located at the 500-foot level of the 605-foot-high steel-and-glass tower at the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle, Washington. It contained 260 seats and revolved 360 degrees in an hour. The state-of-the-art restaurant was dedicated on May 22, 1961. Henry Waterman, of New York, invented the elevator in 1850. He intended it to transport barrels of flour. John Greenwood, of New York invented the dental drill in 1790. The corkscrew was invented by M.L. Bryn, of New York, in 1860. Electrical hearing aids were invented in 1901 by Miller R. Hutchinson, who was from New York. Dr.

Jonas Salk developed the vaccine for polio in 1952, in New York. Four wheel roller skates were invented by James L. Plimpton in 1863. The first words that Thomas A. Edison spoke into the phonograph were, "Mary had a little lamb." In the early 1800s, a French silk weaver called Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented a way of automatically controlling the warp and weft threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of holes in a string of cards. As an advertising gimmick, Carl Meyer, nephew of lunch meat mogul Oscar Meyer, invented the company's "Wienermobile". On July 18, 1936, the first Oscar Mayer "Wienermobile" rolled out of General Body Company's factory in Chicago. The Wienermobile still tours the U.S. today. Germany holds the title for most independent inventors to apply for patents. George Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera, hated having his picture taken. Because Napoleon believed that armies marched on their stomachs, he offered a prize in 1795 for a practical way of preserving food.

The prize was won by a French inventor, Nicholas Appert. What he devised was canning. It was the beginning of the canned food industry of today. Bavarian immigrant Charles August Fey invented the first three-reel automatic payout slot machine, the Liberty Bell, in San Francisco in 1899. Joseph Priestly is credited with discovering oxygen, ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide, and nitrous oxide. He was also the first to isolate chlorine. Joseph Swan invented the light bulb in 1879, one year before Thomas Edison did. However, Swan didn't patent the idea and was widely accused of copying Edison who did patent the idea and was therefore recognized as its inventor. Swan continued to be denied recognition until some time later when it was shown that both light bulbs were produced using different processes. Edison and Swan later formed a joint company using the best of both technologies. Miller Reese of New York, patented the first hearing-aid.Unlike the hearing aids that we know today - this original was not portable. Electrical hearing aids were invented in 1901 by Miller R.Hutchinson. John Greenwood invented the dental drill in 1790.

The corkscrew was invented by M.L. Bryn in 1860. Four wheel roller skates - James L. Plimpton in 1863. A Concise History Of Harnessed Electricity | Holzmacher Electric A Concise History Of Harnessed Electricity Posted on Nov 21, 2014 Harnessed electricity, or access to it, is something most Americans take for granted, until they go camping, fishing or otherwise ‘unplug’ from society. However many countries in the world don’t have the same expectations for alternating current that Americans do, due to the unreliable nature of their local power grids, or the absence of adequate electrical infrastructure or power generating facilities. Many South American and Middle Eastern countries have electricity rations, where electricity is only available to certain areas in the city, only for parts of the day, sometimes at random. Feeling privileged? We do! So now that we have some context to compare against let’s explore this how neo-underrated modern marvel came into existence.

18th century globe-trotter, scholar, and founding-father-extraordinaire, Benjamin Franklin is credited with the first intense study of electricity itself, however many predecessors paved the way for his important research. He conducted extensive research in electricity, selling his possessions to fund his work. In June 1752 he is reputed to have attached a metal key to the bottom of a dampened kite string and flown the kite in a storm-threatened sky. A succession of sparks jumping from the key to the back of his hand showed that lightning was indeed electrical in nature. From there things really accelerate. Courtesy of the Historical Archive.com 1800 First electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta . The “volt” is named in his honor. 1808 Humphrey Davy invented the first effective “ arc lamp .” The arc lamp was a piece of carbon that glowed when attached to a battery by wires. 1820 Separate experiments by Hans Christian Oersted, A.M. Ampere, and D.F.G. Arago confirmed the relationship between electricity and magnetism. 1821 The first electric motor was invented by Michael Faraday .

1826 Georg Ohm defined the relationship between power, voltage, current and resistance in “ Ohms Law .” 1831 Using his invention the induction ring, Michael Faraday proved that electricity can be induced (made) by changes in an electromagnetic field. Faraday’s experiments about how electric current works, led to the understanding of electrical transformers and motors. 1832 Using Faraday’s principles, Hippolyte Pixii built the first “dynamo,” an electric generator capable of delivering power for industry. Pixxi’s dynamo used a crank to rotate a magnet around a a piece of iron wrapped with wire. Because this devise used a coil of wire, it produced spikes of electric current followed by no current. 1835 Joseph Henry invented the electrical relay, used to send electrical currents long distances. 1837 Thomas Davenport invented the electric motor, an invention that is used in most electrical appliances today. 1839 Sir William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, a device that produces electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen. 1841 James Prescott Joule showed that energy is conserved in electrical circuits involving current flow, thermal heating, and chemical transformations.

A unit of thermal energy, the Joule , was named after him. 1844 Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph, a machine that could send messages long distances across wire, giving us Morse Code . 1860′s Mathematical theory of electromagnetic fields published. J.C. Maxwell created a new era of physics when he unified magnetism, electricity and light. Maxwell’s four laws of electrodynamics (“Maxwell’s Equations”) eventually led to electric power, radios, and television (and eventually computers and electric cars). 1876 Charles Brush invented the “open coil” dynamo (or generator) that could produce a steady current of electricity. 1878 Joseph Swan, and Englishman, invented the first incandescent light bulb (also called an “electric lamp”). His newly invented light bulb burned out (too) quickly though. 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 and began experiments to develop a practical, long-lasting light bulb.

1879 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. 1879 Electric lights (Brush arc lamps) were first used for public street lighting, in Cleveland, Ohio. California Electric Light Company, Inc. in San Francisco 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, unlike the power systems that we use today which use alternating current (AC). The first hydroelectric station opened in Wisconsin. Edward Johnson first put electric lights on a Christmas tree.

1883 Arch-rival of Edison, 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. The transformer was an important part of Tesla’s alternating current (AC) system, still used to deliver electricity today. 1884 Nikola Tesla invented the electric alternator, an electric generator that produces alternating current (AC). Until this time electricity had been generated using direct current (DC) from batteries. AC electrical systems are better for sending electricity over long distances. Steam turbine generator, capable of generating huge amounts of electricity, was invented by Sir Charles Algernon Parsons. 1886 William Stanley developed the induction coil transformer and an alternating current electric system. 1888 Nikola Tesla demonstrated the first “polyphase” alternating current (AC) electrical system. His AC system including everything needed for electricity production and use: generator, transformers, transmission system, motor (used in appliances) and lights. George Westinghouse, the head of Westinghouse Electric Company, bought the patent rights to the AC system. The first use of a large windmill to generate electricity was built by inventor Charles Brush.

He used the windmill to charge batteries in the cellar of his home in Cleveland, Ohio. 1893 The Westinghouse Electric Company used an alternating current (AC) system to light the Chicago World’s Fair. A 22 mile AC power line was opened, sending electricity from Folsom Powerhouse in California to Sacramento. 1896 An AC power line that transmits power 20 miles from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, New York was opened. 1897 The Electron discovered by Joseph John Thomson. 1900 Highest voltage transmission line 60 Kilo volt. 1901 First power line between USA and Canada at Niagara Falls. 1902 5-Megawatt turbine for Fisk St. Station (Chicago). 1903 First successful gas turbine (France). World’s first all turbine electrical power station (Chicago). Shawinigan Water & Power installs world’s largest generator (5,000 Watts) and world’s largest and highest voltage line—136 Km and 50 Kilo volts (to Montreal). 1908 Electric vacuum cleaner – J. Spangler… 1909 First pumped storage plant (Switzerland).

1911 Electric air conditioning – W. Carrier. Electric refrigerator – A. Goss. 1920 Federal Power Commission (FPC). 1921 Lakeside Power Plant in Wisconsin becomes the world’s first power plant to burn only pulverized coal. 1922 Connecticut Valley Power Exchange (CONVEX) starts, pioneering interconnection between utilities. 1923 Photoelectric cells were discovered. 1928 Construction of Boulder Dam begins. Federal Trade Commission begins investigation of holding companies. 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established. 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act. Federal Power Act. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bonneville Power Administration. First night baseball game in major leagues (Reds vs. Phillies) was played in Ohio on May 24th. 1936 Highest steam temperature reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 600 degrees Fahrenheit in early 1920s. Boulder (Hoover) Dam was completed. A 287 Kilo volt power line stretched 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam. Rural Electrification Act.

Historical Context - Invention of Electricity Invention of Electricity Bibliography "It is difficult to determine exactly who discovered electricity. Many misconceptions abound, especially the belief that Benjamin Franklin is the father of electricity or some such nonsense. My apologies to the Americans who are having heart attacks right now. The truth about the discovery of electricity is a bit more complex than a man flying his kite. The Franklin experiment helped establish the connection between lightening and electricity, nothing more."- #ixzz2I0nwkXCB "Did Edison invent the light bulb, Marconi the radio, Bell the telephone, Morse the telegraph? The answers are no. They didn't invent the wheel. They were instrumental in making it better and, in some cases, obtaining the patent. Electrical history goes back before Christ and brings us to the computer age." - "The history of electricity goes back more than two thousand years. The Ancient Greeks discovered that rubbing fur on amber caused an attraction between the two. By the 17th century, many electricity-related discoveries had been made, such as the invention of an early electrostatic generator, the differentiation between positive and negative currents, and the classification of materials as conductors or insulators.

In the year 1600, English physician William Gilbert conned the term electric, from the Greek elektron, to identify the force that certain substances exert when rubbed against each other. Fairly recently, researchers and archeologists have discovered pots that they believe may have been ancient batteries meant to produce light at ancient Roman sites."- #ixzz2HumxB1SV Thales of Miletus was the first person ever in recorded history to discover in the palm of the human hand. Below Are the years of world changing history that involved electricity for the first time ( 1752 - 1957) 1752 By tying a key onto a kite string during a storm, Ben Franklin , proved that static electricity and lightning were the same. His correct understanding of the nature of electricity paved the way for the future. 1800 First electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta. The “volt” is named in his honor. Humphry Davy invented the first effective “arc lamp.” The arc lamp was a piece of carbon that glowed when attached to a battery by wires. Separate experiments by Hans Christian Oersted, A.M. Ampere, and D.F.G.

Arago confirmed the relationship between electricity and magnetism. The first electric motor was invented by Michael Faraday. Georg Ohm defined the relationship between power, voltage, current and resistance in“Ohms Law.” Using his invention the induction ring, Michael Faraday proved that electricity can be induced (made) by changes in an electromagnetic field. Faraday’s experiments about how electric current works, led to the understanding of electrical transformers and motors. Joseph Henry separately discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction but didn’t publish his work. He also described an electric motor. Using Faraday’s principles, Hippolyte Pixii built the first “dynamo,” an electric generator capable of delivering power for industry. Pixxi’s dynamo used a crank to rotate a magnet around a a piece of iron wrapped with wire. Because this devise used a coil of wire, it produced spikes of electric current followed by no current. Joseph Henry invented the electrical relay, used to send electrical currents long distances. Thomas Davenport invented the electric motor, an invention that is used in most electrical appliances today. 1839 Sir William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, a device that produces electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen.

James Prescott Joule showed that energy is conserved in electrical circuits involving current flow, thermal heating, and chemical transformations. A unit of thermal energy, the Joule, was named after him. Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph, a machine that could send messages long distances across wire. Mathematical theory of electromagnetic fields published. J.C. Maxwell created a new era of physics when he unified magnetism, electricity and light. Maxwell’s four laws of electrodynamics (“Maxwell’s Equations”) eventually led to electric power, radios, and television. Charles Brush invented the “open coil” dynamo (or generator) that could produce a study current of electricity. 1878 Joseph Swan, and Englishman, invented the first incandescent lightbulb (also called an“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 and began experiments to develop a practical, long-lasting light bulb.

1879 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. 1879 Electric lights (Brush arc lamps) 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. The electric streetcar was invented by E.W. v. Siemens. Thomas Edison opened th 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, unlike the power systems that we use today which use alternating current (AC). The first hydroelectric station opened in Wisconsin. Edward Johnson first put electric lights on a Christmas tree. 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.

The transformer was an important part of Tesla’s alternating current (AC) system, still used to deliver electricity today. Nikola Tesla invented the electric alternator, an electric generator that produces alternating current (AC). Until this time electricity had been generated using direct current (DC) from batteries. AC electrical systems are better for sending electricity over long distances. Steam turbine generator, capable of generating huge amounts of electricity, was invented by Sir Charles Algernon Parsons. William Stanley developed the induction coil transformer and an alternating current electric system. Nikola Tesla demonstrated the first “polyphase” alternating current (AC) electrical system. His AC system including everything needed for electricity production and use: generator, transformers, transmission system, motor (used in appliances) and lights. George Westinghouse, the head of Westinghouse Electric Company, bought the patent rights to the AC system. The first use of a large windmill to generate electricity was built by inventor Charles Brush. He used the windmill to charge batteries in the cellar of his home in Cleveland, Ohio. The Westinghouse Electric Company used an alternating current (AC) system to light the Chicago World’s Fair.

A 22 mile AC powerline was opened, sending electricity from Folsom Powerhouse in California to Sacramento. An AC powerline that transmits power 20 miles from Niagra Falls to Buffalo, New York was opened. Electron discovered by Joseph John Thomson. 1900 Highest voltage transmission line 60 Kilovolt. 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). Shawinigan Water & Power installs world’s largest generator (5,000 Watts) and world’s largest and highest voltage line—136 Km and 50 Kilovolts (to Montreal). 1908 Electric vacuum cleaner – J. Spangler. Electric washing machine- A. Fisher. 1909 First pumped storage plant (Switzerland). 1911 Electric air conditioning – W. Carrier. 1913 T. Murray created the first air pollution control device, the “cinder catcher.” Electric refrigerator – A. Goss. Construction of Boulder Dam begins.

Federal Trade Commission begins investigation of holding companies. 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established. 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act. Federal Power Act. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bonneville Power Administration. First night baseball game in major leagues (Reds vs. Phillies) was played in Ohio on May 24th. 1936 Highest steam temperature reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 600 degrees Fahrenheit in early 1920s. Boulder (Hoover) Dam was completed. A 287 Kilovolt power line stretched 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam. Rural Electrification Act. Transistor invented by scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratiories. 1953 First 345 Kilovolt transmission line. First nuclear power station ordered in England. 1954 World’s first nuclear power plant (Russia) started generating electricity. First high voltage direct current (HVDC) line (20 megawatts/1900 Kilovolts, 96 Km). Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows private ownership of nuclear reactors.

1957 Shippingport Reactor in Pennsylvania was the first nuclear power plant to provide electricity to customers in the U.S. - A History Of Electricity And Magnetism | First4magnets.com Home › Tech Centre › Information and Articles › A History Of Electricity And Magnetism A History Of Electricity And Magnetism Use the links provided below to navigate through our Tech Centre. If you can’t find the information you are looking for please call 01777 874 520. For Free, Friendly Technical Advice CALL THE EXPERTS: 01777 874 520 A HISTORY OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM Magnetism and electricity are intrinsically linked, without one we couldn’t have the other. History is littered with philosophers, physicians, engineers and inventors that have all contributed to our understanding of and the development of electricity and magnetism, many of which are detailed here in our brief history. 600 BC Thales, a Greek philosopher, found that when amber was rubbed with silk, it became electrically charged and attracted other objects. Thales had discovered static electricity.

1175 Alexander Neckam, an English monk, described the workings of a compass 1600 William Gilbert, an English physician and scientist, first spoke of electricity (taken from the term electron, the Greek word for amber) and was the first person to research the properties of the lodestone. Gilbert wrote about the electrification of many substances. He was also the first person to use the terms electric force, magnetic pole, and electric attraction. Controversially he disregarded the common belief that the earth was fixed at the centre of the universe and suggested that magnetism was the soul of the earth. Gilbert published his findings in his book titled De Magnete. 1660 Robert Boyle, an Irish philosopher, chemist and physicist discovered that electric force could be transmitted through a vacuum and observed attraction and repulsion. 1675 Englishman Stephen Gray, a dyer and chemist, distinguished between conductors and non-conductors of electrical charges. 1800 Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invented the first electric battery. The term volt is named in his honour. 1809 Sir Humphry Davy, an English chemist and inventor, created the first electric lamp.

The arc lamp was a piece of carbon that glowed when connected by wires to a battery. 1820 Separate experiments by Hans Christian Ørsted (Denmark), Andre-Marie Ampere (France), and Francois Arago (France) confirmed the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Hans Christian Ørsted’s accidental discovery that an electrical current moves a compass needle rocked the scientific world and a spate of experiments followed, immediately leading to the first electromagnet and electric motor. Hans Christian Ørsted – An accidental discovery In the autumn of 1820, Ørsted invited some colleagues over to show them the way metal could conduct an electrical current. When he fired up the current, Ørsted noticed the needle on a nearby compass moved, which he intended to use for a different demonstration. Before, nobody had ever observed a relationship between electricity and magnetism. He kept his findings secret until figured out how and why his demonstration had affected the magnetic field of the compass. Up until this point, only lodestones (naturally occurring stones with a high concentration of iron) and iron itself were known to give off a magnetic field.

Ørsted replicated his finding and studied it intently, but couldn't come up with an explanation for the phenomenon on his own. He ended up publishing his discovery with no explanation some three months after his discovery. André-Marie Ampère Over the months following the publication of Ørsted’s discovery the scientific community was frantically trying to explain the phenomenon and over a hundred papers were published on the subject in the following seven years. The most authoritative on the subject was French physicist and professor of mathematics, André-Marie Ampère. Only a week after he learned of Ørsted's work, Ampère presented his own findings demonstrating that when two wires were placed parallel to one another, both carrying an electric current, they'd either be attracted to or repulsed by each other depending on which directions the currents were traveling. If both currents moved in the same direction, the wires would be attracted to one another, conversely, if the currents were moving in opposite directions the wires repelled each other. It now sounds simple, but this finding provided the building blocks for the study of electromagnetism and became one of the foundations of modern physics.

Ampère also figured out how to quantify the intensity of the interaction between different electromagnetic currents, and cemented the relationship between electricity and magnetism with an equation known as Ampère's Law. 1821 Michael Faraday, one of the most influential English scientists, discovered the principle of electro-magnetic rotation that would later be the key to developing the electric motor. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices made the electric motor possible. 1826 German physicist and mathematician George Ohm defined the relationship between power, voltage, current and resistance in Ohms Law. 1831 Using his invention the induction ring, Michael Faraday, proved that electricity can be induced by changes in an electromagnetic field. Faraday's experiments about how electric current works led to the understanding of electrical transformers and motors. Faraday wasn’t alone in his endeavours; American scientist Joseph Henry separately discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction but Faraday was first to publish his work. Faraday also described an electric motor and carried out numerous experiments in his attempt to prove that electricity could be generated from magnetism.

Within the course of a few weeks, the great experimentalist not only had clearly demonstrated this phenomenon, now known as electromagnetic induction, but also had developed a good conception of the processes involved. One of the experiments performed by Faraday in that important year featured a permanent magnet and a galvanometer connected to a coil of wire wound around a paper cylinder. 1832 The first magneto, an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current, is built by French instrument-maker Hippolyte Pixii just one year after Michael Faraday's discovery of the principles of electromagnetic induction. Pixii's hand-crank operated magneto was the first practical generator of electrical current. 1834 Thomas Davenport an American blacksmith and inventor invented the electric motor, an invention that is used in most electrical appliances today. 1860s The mathematical theory of electromagnetic fields was published by Scottish theoretical physicist J.C. Maxwell and created a new era of physics when he unified magnetism, electricity, and light. Maxwell's four laws of electrodynamics (Maxwell's Equations) eventually led to electric power, radios, and television.

1876 American inventor Charles Brush invented the open coil dynamo, or generator, that could produce a steady current of electricity. 1878 English physicist and chemist Joseph Swan invented the first incandescent light bulb (also called an electric lamp). His light bulb burned out quickly. American Thomas Edison was also working to develop the same device and founded the Edison Electric Light Co. in New York City. He bought a number of patents related to electric lighting and began experiments to develop a practical, long-lasting light bulb. Charles Brush (United States) developed an arc lamp that could be powered by a generator. 1879 After many experiments, Thomas Edison (United States) invented an incandescent light bulb that could be used for about 40 hours without burning out. By 1880, his bulbs could be used for 1,200 hours. 1882 Thomas Edison opened the Pearl Street power station in New York city. The power station was one of the world's first central electric power plants and could power 5,000 lights. It used a direct current (DC) power system, unlike the power systems that we use today which use alternating current (AC).

The first hydroelectric station opened in Wisconsin. 1883 Nikola Tesla an American immigrant from the Austrian Empire invented the Tesla coil, a transformer that changed electricity from low voltage to high voltage, making it easier to transport over long distances. 1884 Nikola Tesla invented the electric alternator for producing alternating current (AC). Until this time, electricity had been generated using direct current (DC) from batteries. Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, an English engineer, invented a steam turbine generator, capable of generating huge amounts of electricity. 1888 Nikola Tesla demonstrated the first polyphase alternating current (AC) electrical system. His AC system included all units needed for electricity production and use: generator, transformers, transmission system, motor (used in appliances) and lights. George Westinghouse, the head of Westinghouse Electric Company, bought the patent rights to the AC system. Also in 1888, Charles Brush was the first to use a large windmill to generate electricity. He used the windmill to charge batteries in the cellar of his home in Cleveland, Ohio. 1895 The Niagara Falls hydropower station opened. It originally provided electricity to the local area.

One year later, when a new alternating current (AC) powerline was opened, electric power from Niagara Falls was sent to customers over 20 miles away in Buffalo, New York. 1897

Question: In 1860, which Englishman invented an electric lamp some time before Edison registered his patent for the same device ?
Answer: (SIR JOSEPH) SWAN