The document provides a timeline and overview of the history and key discoveries related to electricity, beginning in ancient Egypt and Greece where early observations of natural electricity were made. It then outlines several important contributors and their inventions from the 1700s to early 1900s that helped advance the understanding and practical application of electricity, including Volta's battery, Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction, Edison's incandescent light bulb, and Tesla's AC motor. It also discusses Sir Adam Beck's role in establishing public hydroelectric power infrastructure in Ontario in the early 1900s.

1. HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT
OF
ELECTRICITY
BY ESTRADA JAMES CHADRIC

2. TIMELINE OF THE HISTORY OF ELECTRICITY
FIRST DISCOVERIES

3. ANCIENT EGYPT
• Some of the first instances of electricity were
in nature and in animals.
• The ancient egyptians knew of thunder and
lightning. They also knew about animals, such
as the electric eel, that gave out shocks. In
fact, they called electric eels, the “thunder of
the Nile”. Although the egyptians knew
nothing of potential of electricity. They had
stumbled upon it quite accidentally.

4. ANCIENT GREECE
• Ancient greek philosophers also notice aquatic
electricity. Electric catfish and torpedo rays
were investigated for their numbling
properties. Pliny the elder noticed that electric
shocks could travel up conductors and
discharge on the other side. Patients were
given electric shocks to help with gout, or
headaches.

5. ARABIAN INVESTIGATION
• The arabian philosophers first found
electricity in the form of static electricity.
Amber was rubbed with silk cloth to produce
small sparks and to lift small bits of leaf metal.
At this point, none of these cultures knew
what they were witnessing.

6. THE
DEVELOPMENT
OF
ELECTRICITY
GO BACK IN TIME AND MEET A FEW OF THE PEOPLE WHO MADE
IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES IN THE HISTORY OF ELECTRICITY.

7. JAMES WATT (1736-1819)
• James Watt was a Scottish inventor who
made improvements to the steam engine
during the late 1700s. Soon, factories and
mining companies began to use Watt's new-
and- improved steam engine for their
machinery. This helped jumpstart the
Industrial Revolution, a period in the early
1800s that saw many new machines invented
and an increase in the number of factories.
After his death, Watt's name was used to
describe the electrical unit of power.

8. ALESSANDRO VOLTA (1745-1827)
• Using zinc, copper and cardboard, this
Italian professor invented the first battery.
Volta's battery produced a reliable, steady
current of electricity. The unit of voltage is
now named after Volta.

9. ANDRÉ-MARIE AMPÈRE (1775-1836)
• André-Marie Ampère, a French physicist
and science teacher, played a big role in
discovering electromagnetism. He also
helped describe a way to measure the
flow of electricity. The ampere, which is
the unit for measuring electric current,
was named in honour of him.

10. GEORG OHM (1787-1854)
• German physicist and teacher Georg Ohm
researched the relationship between
voltage, current and resistance. In 1827,
he proved that the amount of electrical
current that can flow through a substance
depends on its resistance to electrical
flow. This is known as Ohm's Law.

11. MICHAEL FARADAY (1791-1867)
• Michael Faraday, a British physicist and
chemist, was the first person to discover
that moving a magnet near a coil of
copper wire produced an electric current
in the wire.

12. HENRY WOODWARD
• Henry Woodward, a Canadian medical student,
played a major role in developing the electric light
bulb. In 1874, Woodward and a colleague named
Mathew Evans placed a thin metal rod inside a
glass bulb. They forced the air out of the bulb and
replaced it with a gas called nitrogen. The
rod glowed when an electric current passed
through it, creating the first electric lamp.
Unfortunately, Woodward and Evans couldn't
afford to develop their idea further. So in 1889,
they sold their patent to Thomas Edison.

13. THOMAS EDISON (1847-1931)
• American inventor Thomas Edison
purchased Henry Woodward's patent and
began to work on improving the idea. He
attached wires to a thin strand of paper,
or filament, inside a glass globe. The
filament began to glow, which generated
some light. This became the first
incandescent light bulb. A thin, iron wire
later replaced the paper filament.

14. NIKOLA TESLA (1856-1943)
• A Serbian inventor named Nikola Tesla
invented the first electric motor by
reversing the flow of electricity on
Thomas Edison's generator. In 1885, he
sold his patent rights to an American
businessman who was the head of the
Westinghouse Electric Company. In 1893,
the company used Tesla's ideas to light
the Chicago World's Fair with a quarter of
a million lights.

15. SIR ADAM BECK (1857-1925)
• In the early 1900s, manufacturer and politician Sir
Adam Beck pointed out that private power companies
were charging customers too much for electricity. He
believed that all citizens had the right to cheap
electric light and power. So he worked to get the
Ontario government to create the Hydro-Electric
Power Commission in 1910. He headed up this
commission, which provided inexpensive electricity to
many Ontario towns and cities. To do this, the
commission built huge generating stations and set up
transmission lines that carried power from Niagara
Falls to places across Ontario. Because of his efforts,
he earned the nickname The Hydro Knight.

16. • The Greeks were the first to use solar architecture, over
2,000 years ago. They learned to build their houses to
take maximum advantage of the solar energy. The sun's
rays entered their homes during the winter, but weren't
able to enter during the summer..

17. • Using solar energy is not a new concept. In ancient times
people have used solar energy for drying, cooking and
warming their homes.

18. • The Greeks and Romans used a magnifying glass to
concentrate the light of the sun into beams to cause
wood to catch fire.

19. • 25,000 fireflies = 1 – 60 watt incandescent light bulb.

20. • Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use up to 75% less
electricity and lasts up to 10 times longer than standard
incandescent bulbs.

21. • It takes 440 million years for coal to be made.

22. • It takes a million years for natural gas to be formed.

23. • Hydro power is one of the oldest sources of energy. It has
been used for over 2,000 years.

24. • Natural gas has no smell. A special chemical called
mercaptan is added which makes the gas smell like
rotten eggs. Now if there is a gas leak, people will smell
the gas and call an expert to fix the leak.

25. • The sun is so powerful that in just one hour it makes
enough energy to meet the world's energy demands for
a whole year.

26. • To power an average Ontario home for one year, you
would need 29 people to ride a bike power generator
non-stop for an entire year.

27. • 100 kWh saved is enough energy to run a clothes washer
50 times, or one free load of laundry every week for a
year.

28. • A typical bath uses 75 litres of hot water while a quick
shower with an energy-efficient low flow showerhead
will use half that amount.

29. • The largest wind turbine in the world for now is as tall as
a 45-story building. Located in Germany, the Enercon E-
126 is 453 feet tall.

30. • Electricity travels the speed of light – that's more than
300,000 kilometres per second. If you could move that
fast, you'd be able to go around the world eight times in
the time it takes you to flip on a light switch.

31. • Electric eels produce surges of electricity that are
stronger than the power you get from an outlet in your
house.

32. • A fan uses about one-tenth the electricity than an air
conditioner uses. That's why it's a good idea to use a fan
instead of an AC whenever possible.

33. • Keeping the water running while you brush your teeth
can use up to 10 litres of water.

34. • A typical Ontario household consumes approximately
850 kilowatt-hours each month. About 15% of this is for
lighting.