Ohio Star Surrounded

Benjamin Franklin became interested in electricity in the mid-1740's, when very little was known about the topic. He spent the better part of a decade conducting various electrical experiments. He coined a number of electrical terms we use today, including battery, conductor and electrician. Franklin is also credited with the invention of the lightning rod, which is used to protect buildings and ships from lightning strikes. As the story goes, on the tenth of June 1752, Benjamin Franklin and his son William flew a kite from a spire atop Christ Church in Philadelphia during a thunderstorm. The kite was not struck by visible lightning, but a charge was collected in a Leyden jar (essentially a very early form of capacitor), enabling Franklin to demonstrate that lightning was electrical.