When did Ben Franklin discover electricity?
Ben Franklin (1706-1790). Born in Boston, Massachusetts. Ben’s interest in electricity came long before he flew the kite. Ben didn’t just fly the kite when lightning was striking just to see what would happen. When lightning struck the kite, he actually ahd a theory behind what was going to happen. Ben sort of suspected that lightning in nature was electrical current, so flying the kite with a key on the end was a test to see if he was right. His famous kite flight took place on June 1752, and led him to develop many terms that we still use today when we talk about electricity: conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharge, negative, minus, plus, electric shock, and electrician. Ben, after this experiment clearly understood how powerful and dangerous lightning could be.
