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Whilst many of us may think electricity was discovered in the 19th century, it was actually the ancient Greeks who first discovered it. Way back then, nearly 2,000 years ago, scientists noted that when they rubbed a piece of polished amber on a cloth, objects would fasten to the amber via a static charge.

Fast forward a few centuries to around 1750, and things had moved on. Benjamin Franklin, founding father of America and noted scientist, was working to prove that lightning was really just electricity. According to legend, in 1752 Franklin went out in a thunderstorm armed with a kite, which sailed up into the sky, was struck by lightning and conducted electricity; thus proving his theory.

These days it is pretty apparent that this could not have been the case: a lightning bolt would surely have been fatal. However, many scientists and historians do recognise that a variation of this experiment could have taken place, as soon after Franklin invented the lightning rod; an innovation to protect buildings struck by lightning.

The next major advance came near the end of the 18th century, when two Italian scientists were astonished to notice that upon dissecting a frog, its leg began jerking uncontrollably. One of the scientists, Galvani, thought this must have been because of electricity contained within the frog’s leg. Volta believed the opposite and set out to prove Galvani wrong. This led him to determine the electric current, and he harnessed this power by creating the voltaic pile (later know as the battery).

Over thirty years later, in 1831, Michael Faraday revealed that moving a magnet inside a wire coil created electricity. This allowed him to build the first electric motor and generator, laying the foundations for more scientific developments.

Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison worked autonomously in the last part of the 19th century, each creating an adaptation of the filament light bulb. They shortly combined their skills, forming a company that would make the world’s first practical filament lamps. Edison then went on to light his whole lab with light bulbs powered by his own generator, in what some might dispute as the first use of business electricity.

So there you have it. It was the ancient Greeks who first documented electricity, but generations of scientists were needed to move forwards the technology to what we have today. Who knows what is left to be discovered…

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