On This Day May 10

The concept of harnessing lightning from the clouds through the use of a rod was first conceptualized by Benjamin Franklin. In 1750, he presented a proposal for an experiment aimed at demonstrating that lightning is, in fact, electricity. His ingenious plan involved flying a kite during a storm that exhibited the potential to develop into a lightning storm. It was on May 10, 1752, that Thomas-François Dalibard, a scientist from France, carried out Franklin's experiment, albeit with a slight modification. Instead of a kite, Dalibard employed an iron rod, successfully extracting electrical sparks directly from a cloud.

Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky c. 1816, by Benjamin West

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