In the development of battery technology, the 20th century marked a turning point. The development of lead-acid, alkaline, and nickel-cadmium batteries enabled a variety of uses, from cars to portable gadgets, and laid the groundwork for the current era of battery technology.
1748 — Benjamin Franklin first coined the term "battery" to describe an array of charged glass plates. 1780 to 1786 — Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses and provided the cornerstone of research for later inventors like Volta to create batteries.
The early beginnings of battery technology, where ancient curiosities met scientific revelations set the stage for a power revolution. In a region that today is known as Iraq, archaeologists stumbled upon a peculiar artifact dating back to the Parthian period, roughly 250 BC to AD 224.
Successive improvements in battery technology facilitated major electrical advances, from early scientific studies to the rise of telegraphs and telephones, eventually leading to portable computers, mobile phones, electric cars, and many other electrical devices. Students and engineers developed several commercially important types of battery.
Battery – first used to describe an electrical energy storage device by Benjamin Franklin. Voltaic Pile – Alessandro Volta invents the voltaic pile, an early electric battery, which produced a steady electric current.
On the threshold of a significant technological shift, with electric vehicles and eco-friendly energy solutions taking center stage, the battery's deep-rooted history has become all the more relevant and has had an undeniable impact from its initial stages till today.
OverviewInventionFirst practical batteriesRechargeable batteries and dry cells20th century: new technologies and ubiquitySee also
Batteries provided the main source of electricity before the development of electric generators and electrical grids around the end of the 19th century. Successive improvements in battery technology facilitated major electrical advances, from early scientific studies to the rise of telegraphs and telephones, eventually leading to portable computers, mobile phones, electric cars, and many other electrical d…