# What was the first invention that required electricity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688 "2005-09-27T16:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/1 "2005-09-27T16:10:19Z")
My son asked this last night at dinner. My wife and I gave it our best guess saying it might be the incandescant lightbulb, but we weren’t really sure. We did a thorough internet search last night yielding nothing, though there were lots of references to the invention of the lightbulb but those seemed to indicate that there were other things around that required electricity. So I bring it here to the Doper community. What was the first invention that required electricty for it to work properly? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/2 "2005-09-27T16:13:53Z")
I think it might have been [electroplating](http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blelectroplating.htm) in 1805. Some [evidence](http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_11.htm) suggests that electroplating was done with primitive batteries over 2000 years ago in what is now Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/3 "2005-09-27T16:16:38Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I think it might have been [electroplating](http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blelectroplating.htm) in 1805. The [Leyden jar (1745)](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-71599) predates this by 60 years. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/4 "2005-09-27T16:20:20Z")
The [facsimile telegraph](http://www.sigtel.com/tel_hist_fax.html) was invented in 1842. Electricity was used to make marks on chemically treated paper at the receiving station. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/5 "2005-09-27T16:21:40Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > The [Leyden jar (1745)](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-71599) predates this by 60 years. True, but those were mainly an experimental curiosity. They weren’t another invention that “required” electricity per the OP. Plus, ancient electroplating has some fairly good evidence to support it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/6 "2005-09-27T16:26:28Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > TThey weren’t another invention that “required” electricity per the OP. I disagree. Without electricity, the Leyden jar is pointless. And the OP did not specify what he he intended by the term “requires”. ---
**Author:** ![Erinaceus\_europaeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Erinaceus\_europaeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erinaceus_europaeus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/7 "2005-09-27T16:31:27Z")
Maybe not strictly what the OP meant, but [lightning rods](http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lightningrod.htm) were invented in 1752, according to the cite. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/8 "2005-09-27T16:36:53Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > I disagree. Without electricity, the Leyden jar is pointless. And the OP did not specify what he he intended by the term “requires”. Point taken. 🙂 I am specifically talking about the first device that requires electricty to perform a useful task. According to Wikipedia, the ancient battery doesn’t have enough evidence to support that it was specifically used for electroplating. It also suggests that the Telegraph was the first, but it doesn’t specifically say it either. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/9 "2005-09-27T16:40:33Z")
The first practical machine that used electricity was probably the telegraph circa 1840-50 - but note that electric lights and motors had been developed before then but not commercial as they weren’t good enough ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/10 "2005-09-27T17:02:30Z")
I think static electricity would predate the Leyden jar by quite a bit. I seem to recall the Greeks knew about it, though I’m not sure if they did anything with it. [This page](http://www.ncsm.city.nagoya.jp/rel/english/exhibits/S/S8/2807.html) says that [Guericke](http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/guericke.html) used static electricity in a number of experiments. (Though with only 5 minutes of searching, I can’t say if he was ‘first’ at that.) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/11 "2005-09-27T17:03:40Z")
That would be ~1663 btw. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/12 "2005-09-27T17:07:09Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > Point taken. 🙂 > > I am specifically talking about the first device that requires electricty to perform a useful task. > > According to Wikipedia, the ancient battery doesn’t have enough evidence to support that it was specifically used for electroplating. What about the electroplating in 1805 that I linked too? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/13 "2005-09-27T17:12:12Z")
The electric telegraph was surely the first electric device that hit really big, being used on a huge scale. Edison’s light bulb was the first electric invention that made sense to use for average households and drove forward the installation of energy grids to private homes. For many decades afterwards, the electricity bill was widely referred to as the light bill. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/14 "2005-09-27T17:22:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > What about the electroplating in 1805 that I linked too? [Auctioneer] I’ve got Electroplating in 1805. Do I hear anything in the 1790’s? 1790’s going once… [/Auctioneer] 😃 Seriously… Wasn’t there some useful electrical item used in the 1700’s? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/15 "2005-09-27T17:26:03Z")
In some way one could argue that the lightning rod, invented in 1752 by Benjamin Franklin, is an electric device. But only in some way, as it’s more about getting rid of undesirable electricity than about using electricity as an energy source. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/16 "2005-09-27T17:32:09Z")
Ben Franklin and other early experimenters made several toys that worked from the charges generated by static electricity generators. I’ve seen some of these in demonstrations (and A.D. Moore describes some of them in his book **Electrostatics** ). They’re not terrifically useful devices, but they do work only with the electricity you generate. And they predate the beginning of the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/17 "2005-09-27T17:35:33Z")
Here’s a picture showing some such devices. Note that Franklin invented his _before_ 1800: [http://www.thebakken.org/electricity/science-of-static.html](http://www.thebakken.org/electricity/science-of-static.html) ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/18 "2005-09-27T17:41:59Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > [Auctioneer] > I’ve got Electroplating in 1805. > Do I hear anything in the 1790’s? > 1790’s going once… > [/Auctioneer] 😃 Raises Hand: 1800! [electrolysis](http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/chemistry/institutes/1992/Davy.html) ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/19 "2005-09-27T17:48:55Z")
Here’s an electrostatic motor invented by Benjamin Franklin in [1748](http://f3wm.free.fr/sciences/jefimenko.html). ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-invention-that-required-electricity/323688/20 "2005-09-27T18:01:28Z")
I found this [web page](http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/genindice.asp?appl=SIM&indice=54&xsl=sala&img=si&lingua=ENG&chiave=600014) that lists quite a few electrostatic devices from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One of them has the be the earliest.