Who discoverd electricity?
Surprising as it may sound, the oldest known batteries I’ve heard of are getting on for 2,300 years old. The Sumerians were using electricity for something or other by 250 BC. They used pottery, copper and perhaps vinegar. Quite what they were up to is unclear. This gets a brief mention in the enclosed link. The quotation is the opening paragraph. “Ancient electrical cells have been discovered in Sumerian ruins dating from around 250 BC. The first evidence of batteries comes from archaeological digs in Baghdad, Iraq. One of the first uses for batteries was to electroplate objects with a thin layer of metal, much like the process used now to plate inexpensive gold and silver jewelry. The early jar cells were found in Khujut Rabu just outside Baghdad and is composed of a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar – or any other electrolytic solution – the jar produces about 1.1 volts.
