jun 20, 1752 - Electricity

Description:

Up until that time, scientists had mainly known about and experimented with static electricity. Benjamin Franklin took things a big step ahead. He came up with the idea that electricity had positive and negative elements and that electricity flowed between these elements. He also believed that lightning was a form of this flowing electricity. In 1752, Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment. In order to show that lightning was electricity, he flew a kite during a thunderstorm. He tied a metal key to the kite string to conduct the electricity. Just as he thought, electricity from the storm clouds transferred to the kite and electricity flowed down the string and gave him a shock. He's lucky that he didn't get hurt, but he didn't mind the shock since it proved his idea.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: