Voltaic pile

Period

1800

Map

Inventions map

The voltaic pile was the first electrical battery that could continuously provide an electric current to a circuit. It was invented by Italian chemist Alessandro Volta, who published his experiments in 1799. Its invention can be traced back to an argument between Volta and Luigi Galvani, Volta's fellow Italian scientist who had conducted experiments on frogs' legs. Use of the voltaic pile enabled a rapid series of other discoveries, including the electrical decomposition (electrolysis) of water into oxygen and hydrogen by William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle (1800), and the discovery or isolation of the chemical elements sodium (1807), potassium (1807), calcium (1808), boron (1808), barium (1808), strontium (1808), and magnesium (1808) by Humphry Davy.

Sources: Wikipedia — Voltaic pile · CC BY-SA 4.0

Earlier and later events nearby

1. c. 1450Gutenberg's printing press
2. 1543De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
3. 1610Galileo's telescopic discoveries
4. 1800Voltaic pileThis page
5. 1886Berne Convention
6. 1916Battle of Verdun
7. 1938Munich Agreement

Who ruled this land

States that held this place in the historical borders data (Cliopatria). Years are approximate, as fine as the data's snapshots (every few years to a century). Tap to open the map for that year.

Other maps for this period

• War mapsAnglo-Maratha Wars