A Brief History
On February 18, 2023, the USA celebrates another National Battery Day! We would like to take this opportunity to briefly talk about batteries.
Digging Deeper
An electro-chemical device used to power any sort of electrical gizmo, we use batteries to start out cars, power our cell phones, light our flashlights, run our radios, power medical devices such as hearing aids and pacemakers, and they keep our computer data from being lost when the lights go out.
Batteries were first invented way back between 150 BC and 650 AD, although we are not sure, the first known example being the “Baghdad Battery” from ancient Iraq that might have been used for medical purposes. Our own Founding Father, Ben Franklin, coined the term “battery” for the Leyden jars of the day, and people have been improving them ever since. The modern idea of the battery was invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800.
Could any of these battery pioneers have envisioned your Tesla?
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you stockpile batteries for an emergency? What sizes do you stockpile? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Beard, Kirby. Linden’s Handbook of Batteries. McGraw Hill, 2019.
Berick, Michael. Relentless Visionary: Alessandro Volta. Barbera Foundation, 2020.
The featured image in this article, a picture of a painting by Giuseppe Bertini of Alessandro Volta demonstrating his battery to Napoleon in 1801, is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.
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