Monday, October 7, 2013

A Timeline of the Battery

1748:  Benjamin Franklin coins the term "battery" in order to describe a series of charges glass plates

1780-1786:  Luigi Galvani demonstrated the electrical basis of nerve impulses and provided cornerstone research for later inventors like Volta to create batteries

1800:  Alessandro Volta invented the Voltaic Pile and discovered the first practical method of generating electricity.  The Voltaic Pile is constructed of alternating discs f zinc and copper with pieces of cardboard soaked in brine between the metals, and this produces a current and is known as the first "wet cell battery."

1836:  John F. Daniell invented the Daniel Cell that used two electrolytes: copper sulfate and zinc sulfate.  This lasted longer than Volta's invention, and the Daniel Cell was used to power technology for over 100 years.

1839:  William Robert Grove created the first fuel cell, and the fuel cell produced electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen.

1839-1842:  Bunsen and Grove invented the most successful batteries by creating improvements in batteries that used liquid electrodes.

1859:  Gaston Plante developed the first practical storage lead-acid battery that could be recharged.

1866:  Georges Laclanche created the carbon-zinc wet battery cell and then the first dry cell, which made the battery transportable.

1881:  J.A. Thiebaut creates the first battery with both negative electrodes and porous pot placed in a zinc cup.

1881:  Carl Gassner invented the first commercially successful dry cell battery.

1899:  Waldmar Jungner invented the first nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery.

1901:  Thomas Alva Edison invented the alkaline storage battery.

1949:  Lew Urry developed the small alkaline battery, which lasts five to eight times longer than zinc-carbon cells.

1954:  The first solar battery is invented by Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin, and this battery converts the sun's energy into electricity.

1964:  Duracell was incorporated!


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