You might have heard of Thomas Edison and his famous patent on the first-ever commercial lightbulb, but did his invention would not be possible without another groundbreaking one by an Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.
Almost 80 years before Edison’s patent, Alessandro created what is known today as a predecessor to the modern battery – the voltaic pile. It was made of alternating discs of zinc and copper interlayered with saltwater-soaked cardboard. When a copper wire was attached, the pile could conduct electricity on both sides.
This quickly led to the creation of the first electric lamp two years later by an English chemist and inventor Humphry Davy. He did it by connecting the voltaic pile with charcoal electrodes. The invention was named an electric arc lamp after the bright arc of light it emitted.
Arguably, if not for Alessandro, Wiseled would not be able to exist. Thank heavens for inventors!
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