Who really discovered electricity?

Nobody "discovered" electricity—ancient Greeks noticed static shock around 600 BC when rubbing amber, but understanding what it actually was took thousands of years.

Benjamin Franklin proved lightning was electricity in 1752 by flying a kite in a storm, risking his life to solve one of science's greatest mysteries.

Luigi Galvani discovered that electricity could make dead frog legs twitch, proving electricity wasn't just in the sky—it existed in living tissue itself.

Alessandro Volta built the first battery in 1800 by stacking zinc and copper discs, finally giving scientists a reliable way to generate and study electricity.

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831, showing that moving magnets could create electricity—the principle behind every power generator today.

The first practical electric device was probably the electric bell, invented in the 1830s, which used electromagnetism to ring when current flowed through it.

Thomas Edison didn't invent the lightbulb, but he created the first commercially practical one in 1879 that lasted long enough to actually be useful.

Nikola Tesla's alternating current system defeated Edison's direct current in the "War of Currents," making long-distance power transmission finally possible.

George Westinghouse licensed Tesla's AC patents and built the first major power plant at Niagara Falls in 1895, proving wireless electricity distribution could work at scale.

James Clerk Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism mathematically in 1865, revealing they're the same force—and that light itself is electromagnetic waves traveling through space.