5 ms·

I was surprised to see Ben Franklin as the first milestone. As an American I knew of the famous kite flying story, but I assumed he was merely a wealthy hobbyis

I was surprised to see Ben Franklin as the first milestone. As an American I knew of the famous kite flying story, but I assumed he was merely a wealthy hobbyist. I didn’t realize his experiments were important enough to be considered a milestone much less the first milestone.

not2b 5y ago
Franklin was first to propose a way of proving that lightning was an electrical phenomenon. It was actually Thomas-François Dalibard who was first to run the experiment (a month before the famous kite experiment by Franklin), but Dalibard based his version of the experiment on a proposal by Franklin, so Franklin is properly credited.
yitchelle 5y ago
I also agree that it is strange as I would have thought human triggered electrical events would have been conducted much before Ben Franklin's.
dec0dedab0de 5y ago
I thought this was common knowledge, but now I'm thinking it is because I grew up near Philadelphia and have been to the Franklin institute many times.
- JoeDaDude 5y ago
  Also recommended: A visit to the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia where they have reproductions of equipment Benjamin used to experiment (end to entertain guests) with electricity, such as a Leyden jar and voltaic cells. https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/benjaminfranklinmuseum.htm https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/benjaminfranklinmuseu...
- JoeDaDude 5y ago
  Dagnab it! No Philadelphian has posted a selfie with the Benjamin Franklin milestone. Must remedy that situation... http://ethw.org/Milestones:Milestones_selfies http://ethw.org/Milestones:Milestones_selfies
adrian_b 5y ago
The experiments of Franklin are an important milestone, but they should have not been the first. The first milestone should have been the invention of the electrostatic generator (first in 1663 by Otto von Guericke, then several improved types during the next century). The availability of the electrostatic generators was the event that started the rapid evolution of the science and technology of electricity and magnetism. Until the electrostatic generators, during 2 millennia, the knowledge about electricity and magnetism consisted just in being aware of the same 5 phenomena that were well known to the Ancient Greeks, i.e. the attractive properties of magnetite, amber and tourmaline (which is pyroelectric), and the stunning effects of electric fishes (2 were known in antiquity: torpedo and electric catfish) and of the lightnings. After the appearance of the electrostatic generators, doing electric experiments became a fashionable activity for many educated people and there was an avalanche of discoveries that advanced very quickly the science of electricity. After the invention of the electrostatic generators the most important milestone was one present in the IEEE list, the invention of the electric battery by Volta. The experiments with electrostatic generators were limited by the impossibility of providing continuous electrical currents. That became possible with the Volta battery, which started the second avalanche of discoveries, including such important things like the connections between electricity and magnetism. While the experiments of Franklin were indeed a milestone, especially because of his definitions of the positive and negative electricities, without electrostatic generators he would have never done any experiments.

not2b 5y ago

Franklin was first to propose a way of proving that lightning was an electrical phenomenon. It was actually Thomas-François Dalibard who was first to run the experiment (a month before the famous kite experiment by Franklin), but Dalibard based his version of the experiment on a proposal by Franklin, so Franklin is properly credited.

yitchelle 5y ago

I also agree that it is strange as I would have thought human triggered electrical events would have been conducted much before Ben Franklin's.

dec0dedab0de 5y ago

I thought this was common knowledge, but now I'm thinking it is because I grew up near Philadelphia and have been to the Franklin institute many times.

JoeDaDude 5y ago
Also recommended: A visit to the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia where they have reproductions of equipment Benjamin used to experiment (end to entertain guests) with electricity, such as a Leyden jar and voltaic cells. https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/benjaminfranklinmuseum.htm https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/benjaminfranklinmuseu...
JoeDaDude 5y ago
Dagnab it! No Philadelphian has posted a selfie with the Benjamin Franklin milestone. Must remedy that situation... http://ethw.org/Milestones:Milestones_selfies http://ethw.org/Milestones:Milestones_selfies

adrian_b 5y ago

The experiments of Franklin are an important milestone, but they should have not been the first. The first milestone should have been the invention of the electrostatic generator (first in 1663 by Otto von Guericke, then several improved types during the next century). The availability of the electrostatic generators was the event that started the rapid evolution of the science and technology of electricity and magnetism. Until the electrostatic generators, during 2 millennia, the knowledge about electricity and magnetism consisted just in being aware of the same 5 phenomena that were well known to the Ancient Greeks, i.e. the attractive properties of magnetite, amber and tourmaline (which is pyroelectric), and the stunning effects of electric fishes (2 were known in antiquity: torpedo and electric catfish) and of the lightnings. After the appearance of the electrostatic generators, doing electric experiments became a fashionable activity for many educated people and there was an avalanche of discoveries that advanced very quickly the science of electricity. After the invention of the electrostatic generators the most important milestone was one present in the IEEE list, the invention of the electric battery by Volta. The experiments with electrostatic generators were limited by the impossibility of providing continuous electrical currents. That became possible with the Volta battery, which started the second avalanche of discoveries, including such important things like the connections between electricity and magnetism. While the experiments of Franklin were indeed a milestone, especially because of his definitions of the positive and negative electricities, without electrostatic generators he would have never done any experiments.