300 Years Old!

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bphgravity

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On Tuesday Jan. 17, Benjamin Franklin will turn 300 years old! Everyone here should own and read his book, Experiments and Observations on Electricity printed in 1751 a whopping 39 years before the birth of Michael Faraday.

Everyone should take a moment on Tuesday to remember and honor the Father of us all, the First American Electrician.
 
iwire

iwire

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Re: 300 Years Old!

Actually if you Google "Father of Electricity" you find Edison, Franklin, Gilbert and more.

I guess if Edison is the father, Franklin is the Grandfather and Gilbert the great grandfather. :cool:
 
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jbwhite

Senior Member
Re: 300 Years Old!

300 years, and I thought I was old :D
I wonder if he is still in the trade? :confused:
Actually some archeologists believe that the Egyptians did electroplating of coins.
 
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bphgravity

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Location
Florida
Re: 300 Years Old!

Yeah, its hard to say where it all really started. There is evidence that the Greeks in 500 B.C.E. started messing around with amber and loadstone. A man by the name of Haung Ti in China around 375 B.C.E. developed the first compass using loadstone. It wasn't until 1576 when a man named Jerome Cardan first determined magentism and electricity are slightly different, however it must indeed William Gilbert who in 1600 named and described the two phenomenon scientifically.

It's a great history but none of those guys signed the Declaration of Independence! :p

Benjamin Franklin 1748

All objects contain a substance called an electric fire or electricity. The total amount of this substance in the world is a constant.

Rubbing together of two objects results in the transfer of electricity from one object to the other. + means a gain in electricity, - means a loss. Glass becomes electrified or gains positive when rubbed with silk.

Two objects electrified in the same sense, + and + or - and -, exert repulsive forces on each other. Two objects electrified in the opposite sense, + and -, exert attractive forces on each other.

The mutual forces due to electrification are increased if the amount of electrification is increased or if the objects are brought closer to each other.

Some materials (conductors) readily conduct electricity whereas others (insulators) do not.
Click to expand...
 
iwire

iwire

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Re: 300 Years Old!

Originally posted by jbwhite:
300 years, and I thought I was old :D
I wonder if he is still in the trade?
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Yeah, he took a maintenance electricians job at the old inventors home. :D
 
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jbwhite

Senior Member
Re: 300 Years Old!

Yea but it was Thomas Edison, who stole all the most recient ideas and improved them and marketed them to create the first usable light bulb.

This guy could make Road Runner druel.

He proved that invention is "one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Of coarse most of the perspiration was comming from the slave wage labor he was hiring. :D

Without his uncanny ability to hire the right people, we would not be where we are today.
 
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bphgravity

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Location
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Re: 300 Years Old!

Originally posted by jbwhite:
... Of coarse most of the perspiration was comming from the slave wage labor he was hiring...
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This is not true! I work in one of Edison's labs and I am treated very well thank you! ;)

Edison / Ford Winter Estates

We can discuss Edison on his birthday on Feb 11. But he will have been mere 159 years old. ;)
 
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jbwhite

Senior Member
Re: 300 Years Old!

Speaking of Bill Gates... I wasn't but iwire brought it up.

I got a kick last year when I read a public relations article he had out. Seems his father was hired to distribute charity money from Bill's own bank account.

I forgot the figures, but I did the math. While the millions of dollars that they were dontating was staggering, if it were compaired percentage wise to the average anual income, it ammounted to about the same as if one of us tossed a bum a dollar on the way to the train station.
 
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bphgravity

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Re: 300 Years Old!

Saturday, Feburary 11 is Thomas Edisons 159th birthday. If anyone is in the Fort Myers area, there will be a celebration provided by the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and the Edison Pageant of Light at the Estates in the Museum.

Following the event will be the Edison Festival of Lights which parades through downtown Fort Myers. Its a real good time. :cool:
 
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unimo

Member
Location
Colorado
Re: 300 Years Old!

Yes Edison made great contributions and the incandescent bulb carried us over for a long time. But let's not forget Nikola Tesla, who was advocating AC when Edison swore by DC.


jbwhite said:
Speaking of Bill Gates... I wasn't but iwire brought it up.

I got a kick last year when I read a public relations article he had out. Seems his father was hired to distribute charity money from Bill's own bank account.

I forgot the figures, but I did the math. While the millions of dollars that they were dontating was staggering, if it were compaired percentage wise to the average anual income, it ammounted to about the same as if one of us tossed a bum a dollar on the way to the train station.
Click to expand...

This isn't true at all. My brother-in-law knew Bill Gates' dad for many years. Bill is a very giving person. His wife has had the full time job of giving his money to charities for many years. He has decided to give away most of his money before he dies, and only leave his kids a small percentage (all though that is still a lot). He is very involved with medical and educational charities all over the US and around the world.

There are a lot of rumors about greed just because he's so rich and people think anyone who is rich is an XXXX. (Can I use that word?)

Also his employees are treated very well in Redmond, WA.

{Moderator?s Note: Edited to remove or replace disrespectful, crude, or otherwise inappropriate language.
Bob}
 
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