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A Listing of Key Events in Electricity and Magnetism
Last Update: June 5, 2025
Introduction to Chronology of Events in Electricity and Magnetism
This post tabulates significant milestones and events in our understanding and application of electricity and magnetism.
The following sources were used to create the table:
- Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field – Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon – 2019 – Prometheus Books
- A Timeline of History of Electricity – electricityforum.com
- History of Engineering: Electricity – VHR.com
- Energy timelines – Electricity – EIA.gov
- What is The History of Electricity? – twinkl
Michael Faraday (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867)
“Now that the mathematical interpretations of Faraday’s conceptions regarding the nature of electric and magnetic forces has been given by Clerk Maxwell, we see how great a degree of exactness and precision was really hidden behind the words which to Faraday’s contemporaries appeared either vague or obscure; and it is in the highest degree astonishing to see what a large number of general theorems, the methodical deduction of which requires the highest powers of mathematical analysis, he found by a kind of intuition, with the security of instinct, without the help of a single mathematical formula.”
(Source: Speech by Hermann von Helmholtz; THE MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF FARADAY’S CONCEPTION OF ELECTRICITY [1881] ; The Faraday Lecture, delivered before the Fellows of the Chemical Society in London on April 5, 1881)
James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879)
James C. Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism into a single, cohesive theory of electromagnetism explained elegantly through a set of 8 partial differential equations.
Oliver Heaviside, about 10 years later, used vector mathematics to reduce the equations to the four equations we now know as Maxwell’s Equations.
Einstein described Maxwell as the “most profound and the most fruitful individual that physics has experienced since Newton”.
In a 1675 letter Isaac Newton wrote: “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” (source: Newton, Isaac. “Letter from Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke”. Historical Society of Pennsylvania)
Asked if he “stood on the shoulders of Newton”, Einstein replied “That statement is not quite right; I stood on the shoulders of Maxwell”. (Source: Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field by Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon which sources it from an article by Frederick Seitz in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 145 no 1 march 2001).
Tabulation of Key Events and Milestones in our understanding and use of Electricity and Magnetism
Year | Discription of Electricity or Magnetism Related Event |
---|---|
2750 BC | Thunderers of the Nile; Ancient Egypt; Electric Fish in the Nile |
600 BC | Thales of Miletus (Greek) Amber rubbed with silk becomes charged: Static Electricity |
1269 | Petrus Peregrinus (French) First detailed and systematic study of magnets. |
1600 | William Gilbert (England) Coined the term electricity from Greek Electron (amber); Published De Magnete; Advanced understanding by distinguishing electricity from magnetism |
1629 | Niccolo Cabeo (Italy) Published work on magnetism and electrical attraction (identified both the attractive and repulsivec nature of electricity) |
1660 | Otto von Guericke (Germany) Invented the first vacuum. Created the first static generator. |
1660 | The Royal Society (London) was founded. This is the oldest scientific academy. |
1660 | Robert Boyle (Ireland) Vacuum experiments with electricity; discovered that electric force could be transmitted through a vacuum and observed attraction and repulsion. |
1687 | Isaac Newton publishes Principia Mathematica: F = Gm1m2/(r*r) |
1729 | Stephen Gray (England) Discovered electricity can be conducted over distance and distinguished between conductors from insulators. |
1733 | Charles Francois Du Fay Discovered two types of electric charge (resinous - and vitreous +), laying the foundation for understanding electrical attraction and repulsion. He introduced the The two fluid theory. |
1745 | Georg Von Kleist (Germany) Developed the first electric capacitator (electrical storage) |
1746 | Pieter van Musschenbroek (the Netherlands) Independently developed an electric capacitator called the Leyden Jar (he worked at University of Leyden) |
1747-1752 | Ben Franklin (United States) Kite experiments proved that static electricity and lightning were the same thing. Introduces concept of positive and negative charges. Established the convention of positive to negative current flow..our convention today (opposite of what it should be). His was the One Fluid Theory. |
1750 | John Michel - showed that inverse square law applied to magnetism. |
1762 | Joseph Louis Lagrange (Italian, French): credited with the earliest discovery of a form of the Divergence Theorem while working on fluid mechanics |
1765 | James Watt (England) The steam turbine used to generate most of the worlds electricity is a descendent of Watt’s steam engine. |
1766 | Joseph Priestly showed inverse square law applied to electricity. |
1780 | Luigi Galvani , Alessandro Volta(Italy); Dead Frog leg twitches with touch of a metal device.Volta explained this as electricity |
1781 | Immanual Kant publishes his "Critique of Pure Reason". Used by a German school of thought called Naturphilosophie. |
1785 | Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (France) Developed Coulomb's law which quantifies the electrostatic force between charges. Fe = KQ1Q2/(r*r). (the electrical force inverse square law) |
1786 | Immanual Kant publishes "Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Sciences". Dynamical theory of matter (proposed the notion of the unity of all natures forces).Advanced by Friedrich von Schelling and Hans Christian Oersted. |
1788-89 | Joseph-Louis Lagrange publishes Mécanique analytique (1788–89); a two volume treatise on analytical mechanics |
1791 | Michael Faraday is Born |
1798-1825 | Traité de mécanique céleste (transl. "Treatise of celestial mechanics") by Pierre-Simon Laplace published from 1798 to 1825 with a second edition in 1829 (5 volumes). |
1799 | The Royal Institution of Great Britian founded (by Cavendish, Count Rumford, and others) |
1783-87 | Pierre Simon De Laplace introduces the Laplacian (a mathematical operator). It is a differential operator given by the divergence of the gradient of a scalar function on Euclidean space. |
Before 1800 | Before 1800 all man made electricity was static. |
1800 | Alessandro Volta (Italy) Invented the first chemical battery (voltaic pile). The volt is named after him. Cavendish probably produced the first electric battery 20 years before. |
1800 | Sir Humphry Davy (England) Discovers Electrolysis. |
1805 | Jane Marcet anonymously (Mr. B here alter ego) publishes "Conversations on Chemistry". |
1808 | The City Philosophical Society (London) was founed by John Tatum. (lectured in the sciences) |
1808 | Sir Humphry Davy (England) Invented the arc lamp ( piece of carbon that glowed when connected by wires to a battery). |
1812-13 | Siméon Denis Poisson publishes his work on the distribution of electricity on the surface of conducting bodies. His Poisson's equation was published in 1813. |
1812 | Michael Faraday hired by Humphry Davy as a lab assistant (at the Royal Institution). |
1813 | Carl Friedrich Gauss independently rediscovered and proved special cases of the Divergence Theorem |
1820 | Hans Christian Ørsted (Denmark) first to discover that an electric current creates a magnetic field when nearby compass reacts to current flowing in a wire. (it's an error to say this was by chance since he was actively looking for a relationship between elec. And magnetism). i.e. it's not like the compass was there by happenstance. |
1821 | Michael Faraday (England). Makes first demonstration of the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical rotary motion (the world's first electric motor). |
1821 | Thomas Johann Seebeck (Estonia) Discovered thermo-electricity |
1820s | André-Marie Ampère (France) Expanded on Oersted's findings. Mathemietized concepts. Studied effect of magnetic forces between current-carrying wires. |
1825 | François Arago (France) discovers that a spinning copper disk would cause a nearby magnetic needle to rotate. |
1826 | André-Marie Ampère (France) Published his theories of electricity and magnetism (electro-dynamic theory); Ampere's law (1827). Augustin Fresnel provided intellectual support. |
1827 | Georg Ohm (Germany) Defined the relationship between power, voltage, current and resistance in Ohms Law (V = IR). Cavendish probably discovered this 50 years before. |
1828 | George Green rediscovered the theorem, independently of Lagrange and Gauss, in the context of his work on potential theory. |
1829 | Joseph Henry (America) Showed that a wire wrapped in coils produces a greater electromagnetism than a straight one. |
1830 | Joseph Henry (America) Independently discovered electromagnetic induction around 1830, roughly at the same time as Michael Faraday. Principles of dynamo. |
1831 | By 1831 everyone knew how to make magnetism from electricity. |
1831 | Faraday inspired by acoustic experiments of Ernst Chladni. Sound waves analogous to electrical or mangetic waves. |
1831 | Faraday begins work on his "Experimental Researches in Electricity". No formulas , just words. |
1831 | Michael Faraday (England) Discovers electromagnetic induction ( a changing magnetic field creates an electric current), which is fundamental to electric generators and transformers. Did it through a series of experiments (Iron Ring Experiment, V Magnet Experiment, and Magnet and Coil Experiment. Iron ring experiment (principle of the transformer) |
1831 | Inspired by Arago's expermient, Michael Faraday invents the first Dynamo (DC electric generator). Spinning copper disk between poles of a powerful magnet, induces a current. |
1831 | Leopoldi Nobili and Vincenzo Antinori mistakenly get credit for Faradays work when they repeat his experments and publish the results with an incorrect date. This was corrected. Taught Faraday a lesson. |
1832 | Hippolyte Pixii (France) Using Faraday's principles; built the first dynamo (an electric generator). |
1833-34 | Michael Faraday publishes his work on the laws of electrolysis in 1833 and 1834. With the help of peers (Whewell, Nichol,..) he coined many of the common terms used in electrolysis. |
1834 | Wheatstone (England) Measured velocity of electricity. |
1834 | Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz publishes Lenz's law in 1834 |
1835 | Joseph Henry (America) Invented the electrical relay, which could send electrical currents long distances. |
1835 | Carl Friedrich Gauss formulated his laws relating electric fields to enclosed charges and magnetic fields to the absence of magnetic monopoles in 1835. |
1837 | Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke (England) Obtained a British patent for an electric telegraph. (first commercial system) |
1837 | Thomas Davenport (United States) Invented the electric motor |
1838 | Faraday's "Experimental Researches in Electricity" reaches 14 series (each being a collection of related articles). Typically collected as Volume I. Last series in Volume III published in 1855. |
1838 | Samuel Morse (United States) Invents Morse Code |
1839 | Sir William Robert Grove (Scotland) Developed the first fuel cell (produces electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen). |
1840 | Samuel Morse (United States) Receives a patent for his telegraph machine. |
1841 | James Prescott Joule (England) 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. |
1843 | Quarternions, a number system used to describe 3D rotations, were introduced by Irish Mathematician William Rowan Hamilton |
1844 | Samuel Morse (United States) Sent the first public telegraph message. |
1845,6 | Franz Ernst Neumann (German) quantitatively formulated the law of electromagnetic induction. |
1845 | Gustav Kirchhoff (German) is credited with formulating Kirchhoff's Circuit Laws in 1845. |
1848 | Hippolyte Fizeau (French) did the first accurate terrestrial measurement of the speed of light |
1850 | Léon Foucault (French) Improved the measurement of the speed of light using a rotating mirror (1850, 1862) |
1855 | Faraday finishes the last volume (III) of his "Experimental Researches in Electricity". |
1855 | In the year 1855, German physicists Wilhelm Weber and Rudolf Kohlrausch performed an experiment involving the discharge of a Leyden jar, from which they established the ratio between electrostatic and electrodynamic units of charge. This ratio became known as Weber’s constant and it is numerically equal to c√2, where c is the speed of light. |
1855 | James Clerk Maxwell (Scotland) presents his paper "On Faradays Lines of Force" in two parts (to Cambridge Philosophical society). He used the vector math of Gauss, George Green, and William Thomson. |
1861,2 | James Clerk Maxwell (Scotland) Published a four part paper -"On Physical Lines of Force" . |
1865 | 1865: Hermann Sprengel invents the mercury vacuum pump. |
1865 | J.C. Maxwell publishes - A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic field - maxwell equations listed (over 20) and wave equation derived |
1867 | Gauss's Law for electricity was published in 1867 (but formulated in 1835) as part of a collection of his works. |
1871 | J.C. Maxwell publishes "Remarks on the Mathematical Classification of Phys ical Quantities". Coins the terms Curl, Convergence (Divergence), and Slope (Gradient) |
1873 | J.C. Maxwell publishes - A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (probably second to Newton's Principia the most famous physics book) |
1861-73 | In summary Maxwell Publishes his equations of electrodynamics, unifying electricity and magnetism (and light) into a single theory. |
1876 | Charles Brush (United States) Invented the open coil dynamo (or generator) that could produce a steady current of electricity. |
1876 | Alexander Graham Bell (United States) Invented the telephone using electricity. See Meucci also. |
1878-79 | 1878-1879: Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison, utilizing improved vacuum technologies, make significant breakthroughs in developing practical incandescent light bulbs with longer lifespans |
1878 | Joseph Swan (England) Invented the first incandescent lightbulb (also called an electric lamp). His lightbulb burned out quickly. |
1878 | Charles Brush (United States) Developed an arc lamp that could be powered by a generator. |
1878 | Thomas Edison (United States) 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. |
1879 | 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. |
1879 | Brush Arc Lamp Usage Electric lights (Brush arc lamps) were first used for public street lighting in Cleveland, Ohio. |
1879 | California Electric Light Company In San Francisco; First electric company to sell electricity to customers. |
1847-81 | E.W. v. Siemens. (Germany) Developed dynamo-electric principle. Invented the electric railway, elevator, and tramway |
1882 | US's first power Station Edison Opened the Pearl Street power station in New York City. Was one of the world's first central electric power plants and could power 5,000 lights. Used Direct Current (DC). |
1882 | Britian's first Power Station Britains First Power Station - Holborn Viaduct - Built by Edison Electric Light Company |
1882 | Hydroelectric Station The first hydroelectric station opened in Wisconsin. |
1882 | Edward Johnson (united States) Popularized the use of electric light bulbs (for christmas decorations etc.) |
1883 | Nikola Tesla (Serbian-American) Invented the Tesla coil, a transformer that changed electricity from low voltage to high voltage, making it easier to transport over long distances. |
1884 | Oliver Heaviside converts Maxwell's mathematical analysis of electricity and magnetism (20 equations) into the four equations we know as Maxwell's equations. Using vector calculus. |
1884 | John Henry Poynting publishes a theorem for the conservation of energy in an electromagnetic field, as well as an expression for the flow of energy, now known, respectively, as Poynting's theorem and the Poynting vector. He scoops Heaviside by a few months. |
1884 | J.W. Gibbs, independently of Oliver Heaviside, used vector calculus to express Maxwell original electrodymaic equations. |
1884 | Nikola Tesla (Serbian-American) Invented the electric alternator for producing alternating current (AC). Until this time, electricity had been generated using direct current (DC) from batteries. |
1884 | Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (England) Invented a steam turbine generator, capable of generating huge amounts of electricity. |
1886 | William Stanley, Jr. (United States) Developed the induction coil transformer and an alternating current electric system. |
1887-88 | Heinrich Hertz (Germany) published his discovery of electromagnetic waves (radio waves) in late 1887 in a treatise titled "On Electromagnetic Effects Produced by Electrical Disturbances in Insulators". He finally Confirmed Maxwell's theories. Scooped work that was being done by George F Fitzgerald and Oliver Lodge. |
1884-88 | Heaviside, Fitzgerald, Lodge, Hertz are sometimes called the Maxwellians (the ones how brought Faraday and Maxwell theories to the world) |
1887 | Michelson-Morley experiment to detect the movement of Earth through the "luminiferous ether" ( a hypothetical medium thought to carry light waves). The experiment aimed to measure the Earth's relative motion through this ether but it produced a null result. |
1888 | Nikola Tesla (Serbian-American) Demonstrated the first polyphase alternating current (AC) electrical system. It included all units needed for electricity production and use. |
1888 | George Westinghouse, the head of Westinghouse Electric Company, bought the patent rights to the AC system. |
Late 1880s-Early 1890s | Edison (DC) vs Tesla (AC) competions (wars) Edison engaged in a smear campaign against AC power. AC power prevailed. |
1888 | Charles Brush (United States) The first to use a large windmill to generate electricity. |
1889 | Heaviside produces a formula called the relativistic factor which implied the contraction of point charges relative to the surrounding "aether" |
1889 | Length contraction was postulated by George FitzGerald (1889) and Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1892) to explain the negative outcome of the Michelson–Morley experiment and to rescue the hypothesis of the stationary aether (Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction hypothesis). |
1890 | Turbine Driven Generators Used to produce electricity. |
1892 | Hendrik Lorentz (Dutch) Published his Electron Theory. Derived Lorentz Force Law. Force on a moving charged particle in an electromagnetic field. Postulated Length contraction to explain Michelson Morely null result. |
1893 | The Westinghouse Electric Company Used an alternating current (AC) system to light the Chicago World's Fair. |
1893 | Long distance AC power line A 22-mile AC powerline was opened, sending electricity from Folsom Powerhouse in California to Sacramento. |
1895–96 | Niagra Falls Power Station AC power generated and sent to Buffalo New York, 20 miles away. |
1897 | Joseph John Thomson (England) Discovered the electron. Proposed the pudding pie model of an atom. |
1897 | Guglielmo Marconi (Italy) Sends radio message 20 miles in distance. Later sends across atlantic. |
1899 | Ernest Rutherford (England) Identified alpha and beta radiation |
1900 | Max Planck (German) proposes: electromagnetic radiation energy (e.g. light), is not continuous but discrete. i.e. comes in packets or quanta. |
1900 | Henri Poincaré examined the momentum of electromagnetic radiation and derived a form of m=E/(c*c) in the context of electromagnetic mass |
1901 | Marconi broadcasts the first transatlantic radio signal |
1901 | Long distance Power Line .The first power line between the United States and Canada was opened at Niagara Falls. |
1902 | Henri Poincare states in a publication the non-existence of absolute motion and time. (anticipating the Theory of Relativiity). |
1903 | Turbine Driven Power Station The world's first all turbine station opened in Chicago. |
1903 | Power Generator The world's largest generator (5,000 watts) was opened at Shawinigan Water & Power; and the world's largest and highest voltage line (136 kilometers and 50 kilovolts) brought power to Montreal. |
1905 | Albert Einstein (Germany) Demonstrated that light energy could be used to make electricity. (Photovoltaic Effect). He showed that light behaves as a stream of particles, called photons, whose energy depends on their frequency. |
1905 | Theory of Special relativity by Einstein explained in his 1905 paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Special relativity is based on two postulates which are contradictory in classical mechanics: (1) The laws of physics are the same for all observers in any inertial frame of reference relative to one another (principle of relativity). (2) The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion or of the motion of the light source. Time dilation, length contraction, and energy , mass equivalence all come out of this theory (E = m(c*c)). |
1905 | Einstein published the derivation of E = m(c*c) in a follow up paper. |
1907-1915 | Einstein develops theory of General relativity (theory of gravitation) |
1908 | J. Spangler (United States) Invented the first electric vacuum cleaner. |
1909 | Pumped Storage Plant Hydroelectric Power Design The world's first pumped storage plant (utiizing two resevoirs of water at different elevations)opened in Switzerland. |
1909-13 | Millikan Oil Drop Experiment (U.of Chicago) Millikan and Fletcher Measured the elementary electric charge (the charge of the electron) |
1911 | W. Carrier (United States) Invented electric air conditioning. |
1911 | Ernest Rutherford (England) Based on Gold Foil Experiments, publishes his atomic model, where a positive nucleus is surrounded by negative electrons. |
1913 | Niels Bohr (Danish) introduces a quantum model of the atom, in which electrons orbit around a nucleus only at certain distances and can jump between them by absorbing or emitting photons. |
1913 | Fred W. Wolf (American) Invented the electric refrigerator. |
1917 | Ernest Rutherford (England) Discovers the Proton |
1918 | Refrigerators and Washing Machines First become available. |
1921 | First Coal Fired only Power Plant Lakeside Power Plant in Wisconsin |
1922 | Utility Interconnections Connecticut Valley Power Exchange (CONVEX) started pioneering interconnection between utilities. |
1923 | Louis de Broglie (French): matter, like light, has both particle and wave properties. The wavelength of a particle is inversely proportional to its momentum. |
1925 | Werner Heisenberg (German): formulated a mathematical framework for quantum physics that uses matrices to represent physical quantities and operators. Discovered the Uncertainty Principle (there is a limit precisely measuring certain pairs of physical quantities, such as position and momentum.) |
1926 | Erwin Schrödinger developed a mathematical framework for quantum physics that uses differential equations to describe the evolution of wave functions. Also introduced the concept of superposition. |
1927 | Paul Dirac (French) unifies quantum mechanics and special relativity in the Dirac equation.He predicted the existence of antimatter. |
1928 | Wolfgang Pauli (Austrian) proposed the Exclusion Principle. Pauli introduced the concept of spin, which is a quantum property that gives particles a magnetic moment. |
1932 | James Chadwick (English) Discovered the neutron, crucial for understanding atomic nuclei and nuclear forces related to electricity. |
1936 | Hoover Dam Hydro Power Plant Boulder (later renamed Hoover) Dam was completed. A 287 kilovolt power line stretched 266 miles from the dam in Boulder City, Nevada, to Los Angeles, California. |
1936 | John Logie Baird (Scotland) In the Television. |
1947 | Bell Labs (Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley) US Invented the transistor. |
1954 | World's First Nuclear Power Plant (Russia) The world' s first nuclear power plant (Russia) started generating electricity. |
1954 | Bell Labs (Chaplin, Fuller, Pearson) US Invented the first solar cell. |
1957 | First Nuclear Power Plant in United States The Shippingport reactor in Pennsylvania. |
1958 | Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce (US) Independently developed the integrated circuit (microchip). |
1960s-70s | Development of MOSFET Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor |
1969 | Willard Boyle (Can./US) & George E. Smith (US) Invented the charge-coupled device (CCD), crucial for digital imaging. |
1971 | Invention of Microprocessor Intel introduced the 4004, the first commercially available single-chip microprocessor |
1970s | Semiconductor advancements Enabled smaller, faster, and more efficient electronic devices, laying the groundwork for future digital technologies. |
1973 | Mobile Phone (first handheld prototype) Revolutionized personal communication, allowing for portable voice calls. |
1970s-1990s | Computer Hardware advancements Continuous improvements in processing power, memory, and storage capacity, driving the digital revolution. |
1970s-1990s | Rechargeable Batteries Enabled the portability of numerous electronic devices, from laptops to power tools. |
1978 | Global Positioning System (GPS) Navigation/Satellite Technology |
1983 | Digital Camera (first commercially available) Transformed photography, allowing for instant image capture and digital storage. |
1983 | The Internet (TCP/IP adoption) Established the fundamental communication protocols for the modern internet, enabling global data exchange. |
1989 | World Wide Web (proposal) Proposed a global hyperlinked information system, which would become the foundation for how we access information online. |
Early 1990s | Email (widespread adoption) Revolutionized written communication, offering a faster and more efficient alternative to traditional mail. |
Mid-1990s | VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Enabled voice communication over the internet, leading to cost savings and new communication possibilities. |
Late 1990s - Present | Various Online Technologies (e.g., e-commerce, social media, streaming) Transformed commerce, social interaction, entertainment, and access to information on a global scale. |
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