The History of Electricity (& the Future of Electric Power)

Electrical energy has always been around us, but for most of human history, we haven’t understood it or been able to control it. That all changed in the 18th and 19th centuries when a series of major discoveries led to the invention of the battery, the electric light bulb, and other technologies that we take for granted today.  

The 20th century also brought breakthroughs in the realm of electricity generation, with wind power, nuclear power, and tidal power all making their way onto the scene.  

Here’s a brief history of electricity, from the early experiments of the 18th century to more recent inventions like the solar panel and electric car. 

The Early History of Electricity 

Although humans only learned how to generate electricity relatively recently, we’ve been aware of its existence in nature for quite some time. In ancient Egypt, electric fish were called the “Thunderer of the Nile,” and they appear in carvings dating from 2725 BC.  

The first attempt to use electrical energy may have been in medicine: Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians reportedly used electric fish as a treatment for epilepsy and gout.  

The next type of electricity to be discovered was static electricity, which is attributed to Thales of Miletus, a Greek philosopher. He saw that particles of dust could be made to cling to amber, the same way we might notice them stick to a balloon.  

Thales of Miletus didn’t get it exactly right – he thought it was caused by magnetism – but it’s still one of the earliest observations of electricity in the ancient world.  

The term “electricity” didn’t exist at the time. In fact, it wasn’t used until the early 1600s, when it was coined from the Greek word for amber. An English scientist named William Gilbert came up with the word “electricus” to describe objects that attracted dust “like amber,” and this eventually led to the modern usage of the word “electricity.”  

After that came the Leyden jar, a device that can store an electrical charge and paved the way for laboratory experiments with electricity and magnetism. 

Famous Names in the History of Electricity 

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Some of the biggest milestones in the history of electricity occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries when individual scientists performed experiments that furthered our knowledge of electrical energy. These five figures are among the most well-known in the field, and several of them even lent their name to scientific laws and units of measurement. 

Benjamin Franklin 

1706-1790  

Benjamin Franklin might be best known as one of America’s Founding Fathers, but he also played a major role in the history of electricity. After the famous kite experiment of 1752, in which he reportedly flew a kite in a thunderstorm, he wrote that “when the Rain has wet the Kite and Twine, so that it can conduct the Electric Fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from the Key on the Approach of your Knuckle.”  

This wasn’t the first time anyone had identified the link between electricity and lightning, but he was the first to put the pieces together and explain how it worked. He used this knowledge to invent a lightning rod that could be used to protect tall buildings. 

Alessandro Volta 

1745-1827  

Alessandro Volta was an Italian scientist who developed the first electric battery, known as the voltaic pile. His experiments confirmed that electricity wasn’t solely produced by animals – such as the frogs that were commonly used in laboratories at the time – but could also be produced by chemical reactions and be made to travel in a circuit.  

Volta’s discoveries led to rapid advances in the field of electricity, including the invention of the dynamo, an electrical generator that played a key role in the Industrial Revolution. Many years after his death, the volt, a unit of electrical energy, was named after him. 

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Michael Faraday 

(1791-1867)  

Michael Faraday may not be as famous as some of the other names in the history of electricity, but he’s credited with developing the idea of the electromagnetic field. The Faraday cage, which can block electromagnetic energy, is named after him. He also identified the laws of electrolysis, which are still used today to determine how much energy has to pass through a substance in order to create a chemical change.  

Faraday spent most of his life in England, but his ideas traveled around the world, and he became an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also developed the first electric motor and demonstrated it in 1821. 

Thomas Edison 

1847-1931  

Thomas Edison is widely credited as the inventor of the incandescent light bulb, but the more accurate telling is that he improved on a technology that already existed. Many of Edison’s 1,093 patents were the product of teamwork, with a large team of researchers working out of his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Their research also played a key role in the development of sound recording and motion picture technology.  

One of his biggest achievements was opening the first power plant in New York City in 1882, the Pearl Street Station. He also installed the first electric streetlights in Roselle, New Jersey, marking the beginning of the end of gas lighting in American cities.  

Eventually, Edison’s companies evolved into the General Electric brand, which is known for its washing machines, refrigerators, and electric light bulbs. 

Nikola Tesla 

1856-1943  

Nikola Tesla is often described as Edison’s rival, and there’s some truth to that idea. He was born in the Austrian Empire and worked at the French branch of Edison’s company before moving to the U.S. in 1884. After starting his own laboratory in New York City, he worked with George Westinghouse to develop an alternating current (AC) system that competed with Edison’s direct current (DC) power system.  

This became known as the War of the Currents and led to electrical engineering feats such as powering Buffalo, New York, with energy from Niagara Falls.  

Tesla also developed several different types of transformers, including the Tesla coil, a high-voltage, low-current transformer that’s often used for entertainment. 

The Modern History of Electricity 

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The War of the Currents was the beginning of the modern age of electricity, as new technologies were rolled out across America – and around the world. In Wisconsin, a man named Henry Rogers became the first person to use hydropower to generate electricity in his home, while Werner von Siemens built the first electric street car in Germany in 1881. 

 But the increased demand for electricity meant a need for large-scale power generation and high-voltage transmission lines. Many early power plants used coal-powered steam turbines to produce electricity, and coal remained the most common source of electric power in the U.S. for years, surpassed only by natural gas in 2015. 

The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

The next challenge was getting electricity into people’s homes. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act, which helped to bring electric power to rural areas that were far from existing distribution networks.  

In addition to building transmission lines, teams of electricians went around to remote farms and houses to install electric wiring and fuse panels. Together, this contributed to the development of a national power grid, which is now broken down into the Western Interconnection, Eastern Interconnection, and Texas Interconnection. 

Nuclear Energy 

With electricity available in practically every home, researchers turned to new methods of power generation to keep up with the growing demand for energy.  

One of the most promising ideas was nuclear power, which uses uranium to generate power through nuclear fission. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called this research program “Atoms for Peace” to distinguish it from atomic warfare.  

The first nuclear power station in the U.S. opened in 1958, not long after similar power stations in the U.K. and U.S.S.R. Now, there are 92 of them that provide power for tens of millions of homes.  

However, the dangers involved with transporting and storing radioactive material have always made this a controversial power source. 

Solar Energy 

Another technology that has played a key role in the history of electricity is photovoltaic technology or solar power. The first solar panel to produce an electric current was built in the 1800s, but it took over a century for the technology to catch on due to its cost.  

In 1979, the White House had rooftop solar panels installed. Now, solar energy is one of the major drivers of the renewable energy transition and prices continue to drop. 

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Electronics 

There’s one more technology that wouldn’t exist without electricity: computers and other electronics. The first circuit board was invented by Albert Hanson in Germany in 1903, but at that point, the circuits still had to be wired by hand. The first printed circuit board came in 1936.  

Once the technology became widely available, circuit boards could be used in radios, TV sets, and other electronics. Next came the computer chip, which was capable of even more processing power on an even smaller scale. According to Moore’s Law, today’s microchips can be expected to double in capacity every two years. 

The Future of Electricity 

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The history of electricity has gone through many phases over the past few centuries. So what can we expect to come next? One clear trend is a decline in coal power. Per the International Energy Agency, “global carbon emissions from energy will peak in 2025” as the electrical grid shifts from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.  

We may also see a trend towards more self-reliance, as rolling blackouts and extreme weather events put a strain on regional power grids. This could take the form of home energy storage devices, electric car charging stations, and networked microgrids.  

The future of electricity may be unpredictable, but your electric bills don’t have to be. Get a fixed energy rate with Just Energy and save money on your energy costs. 

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