When was electricity invented? The history of the discovery of electric energy
The question posed in the title of this article has no simple answer, because in reality electric current—understood as the ordered movement of electrons through a given medium—was “invented”… by nature itself. More precisely, it was evolution that brought it about with the creation of the first living organisms, whose primitive nervous systems used electrical impulses to transmit stimuli and information.
Long before any theory of electricity existed, people observed that certain animals could produce electrostatic discharges. Ancient Egyptian texts dating back to 2750 BCE mention electric fish capable of generating such discharges. The same phenomena were recorded by Pliny the Elder and Scribonius Largus, who described electric catfish and torpedo rays. There were even attempts to treat chronic headaches and mental disorders using these natural electric shocks. Thousands of years ago, humanity was already experimenting with something surprisingly similar to modern electroconvulsive therapy!
Instead of asking when electricity was invented, it is more accurate to ask when humanity learned to understand it and use it for its own purposes.
Electric current – who discovered it and when?
The first serious studies of electricity and magnetism were conducted by English physician and physicist William Gilbert. In his work De Magnete, he described naturally magnetized rocks and distinguished them from the static electricity produced by rubbing amber with silk (a phenomenon first noted by the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, to whom we essentially owe the discovery of static electricity).
The phenomenon of electricity was later examined by many scholars, including Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Interestingly, Franklin was so dedicated to his experiments that he even sold parts of his personal property to continue his research.
However, until 1800, all these studies remained mostly theoretical, despite numerous experiments of limited practical impact. In that year, Italian physicist and chemist Alessandro Volta invented the first battery, known as the Voltaic pile, by stacking alternating layers of zinc and copper. Volta’s breakthrough—demonstrating that it was possible to create a stable source of electric energy—marked the true beginning of modern electrical science.
Key discoveries in electricity
Over the past two centuries, the number of discoveries related to electricity has been immense, but some stand out for revolutionizing industry and daily life:
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1870s – Thomas Edison developed the first direct-current generator, which was used to provide lighting throughout New York City.
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The same decade saw the invention of the telephone.
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Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American engineer, created the first alternating-current motor and generator. To protect his discovery, Tesla initially spread rumors about the dangers of AC power. But after his system illuminated 100,000 lights at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, AC technology became the primary power source across the United States.
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Just a decade earlier, the first electric railway—Volks Railway in Brighton, UK—began operation. Remarkably, it still runs today, though only as a tourist attraction on a one-mile stretch.
How is electricity produced?
Generating electricity is a complex process. Simply mining coal, erecting a wind turbine, or splitting an atom isn’t enough to power a factory. One form of energy—such as the kinetic energy of moving water or wind—must be converted into electrical energy. This is why the design of efficient generators, which use turbines to produce electric current, is so crucial.
Generators and turbines are therefore key components of nearly every type of power plant. Solar farms and small-scale photovoltaic systems work differently, producing electricity directly through the photovoltaic effect.
Electricity in everyday life – from discovery to modern times
Electricity first entered households in the 1930s, bringing with it televisions, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and irons that gradually became part of everyday life.
The following decades saw the rise of hydroelectric and later nuclear power. The first large-scale nuclear power plant began operating in 1956 at Calder Hall in the UK. Wind power plants took longer to emerge; it wasn’t until 2000 that the first installation using wave motion to compress air and drive a generator was built off the coast of Scotland’s Islay Island.
Today, electricity powers industrial machinery, production lines, electric vehicles, computers, and smartphones—technologies essential to the functioning and development of modern society.
For a long time, however, a key challenge persisted: the lack of large-scale energy storage. Electricity could be transmitted through power grids, but any surplus production was lost. This changed with the invention of energy storage systems, which work much like car batteries, storing and releasing electricity as needed.
The future of electricity
Today, the priority is the development of low-emission technologies. The challenge is no longer how to generate electricity—we are quite good at that—but how to do so with minimal environmental and economic cost.
According to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global electricity demand is growing by several percent each year. China consumes the most, accounting for 54% of global production. Low-emission energy sources include all forms of renewable energy as well as nuclear power (though the latter is not technically classified as renewable).
The share of renewables in global electricity production is expected to rise to 47% this year. While humanity is still slowly shifting away from practices that harm the environment, the transition is happening steadily.
Renewable energy sources face their own challenges. One of them is the so-called Dunkelflaute (“dark doldrums”)—a period when neither solar nor wind power can produce electricity. Such situations occurred in Germany on November 5–7 and December 11–12, 2024. Fortunately, these events remain rare.
