Menu
Idea

electricity

60
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Reddy Kilowatt mascott emerging from an outlet.

The Energy Mascot that Electrified America

An animation historian on Reddy Kilowatt, the cartoon charged with electrifying everything in the early 20th century.
by Mike Munsell, Kirsten Moana Thompson via Heatmap on August 5, 2024
A 1955 AT&T publicity photo shows [in palm, from left] a phototransistor, a junction transistor, and a point-contact transistor.

How the First Transistor Worked

Even its inventors didn’t fully understand the point-contact transistor.
by Glenn Zorpette via IEEE Spectrum on November 20, 2022
Colorful lithograph showing the "Department of Electricity," a building with electrical lights positioned along the water, with a crowd of people entering

Colonizing the Cosmos: Astor’s Electrical Future

John Jacob Astor’s "A Journey in Other Worlds" is a high-voltage scientific romance in which visions of imperialism haunt a supposedly “perfect” future.
by Iwan Rhys Morus via The Public Domain Review on September 14, 2022
Row of power lines

It Wasn’t Just Oil Companies Spreading Climate Denial

The electricity industry knew about the dangers of climate change 40 years ago. It denied them anyway.
by Robinson Meyer via The Atlantic on September 7, 2022
Drawing of ladies wearing "lightning rod hats" ca. 1778.

Electrical Fashions

From the light-bulb dress to galvanic belts, electrified clothing offered a way to experience and conquer a mysterious and vigorous force.
by Amelia Soth via JSTOR Daily on May 26, 2022
Frankling and a turkey with lightning in the background.

When Benjamin Franklin Shocked Himself While Attempting to Electrocute a Turkey

The statesman was embarrassed by the mishap—no doubt a murder most fowl.
by Timothy J. Jorgensen via Smithsonian on November 22, 2021
A woman giving a presentation about electric appliances to an audience of men and women.

Refrigerators and Women’s Empowerment

The “peaceful revolution” of rural electrification.
by Maddie Fowler via National Museum of American History on October 20, 2021

Flash Mob: Revolution, Lightning, and the People’s Will

Why French revolutionaries, in need of an image to represent the all important “will of the people”, turned to the thunderbolt.
by Kevin Duong via The Public Domain Review on November 9, 2017

Electricity and Allegiance

Benjamin Franklin introduced the magical picture, an experiment that played on the king's beloved image and his deadly force.
by Anna S. Barnett via Cabinet on March 1, 2006
Christmas lights and decor
partner

Christmas Lights — Brought to You By a Jew From the Muslim World

Jews from the Ottoman Empire pioneered the Christmas lights market a century ago — but nativism, antisemitism and islamophobia obscured this history.
by Devin E. Naar via Made By History on December 21, 2022

Puerto Rico Can Blame Its Total Blackout on Predatory Companies and Poor Decisions in Washington

Hurricane Fiona hit the island as only a Category 1 storm. But thanks to bad management, the electrical grid immediately collapsed.
by Kate Aronoff via The New Republic on September 20, 2022
Photo illustration of a button causing death courtesy of MIT Press Reader.

How Americans Got Comfortable With Killing at the Push of a Button

For years, the idea seemed immoral and dangerous.
by Rachel Plotnick via Slate on June 20, 2022

Before Interstates, America Got Around on Interurbans

The fate of electrified “rural trolleys” at the beginning of 20th century could offer lessons for today’s train boosters.
by Vince Guerrieri via CityLab on October 6, 2021
Rural Electrification Administration (REA) erects telephone lines in rural areas.

The Legacy of the Rural Electrification Act and the Promise of Rural Broadband

The history of rural electrification demonstrates why vital public utilities cannot be left to the machinations of the market.
by Christopher Ali via LPE Project on July 12, 2021
President Joe Biden behind the wheel of an electric car.
partner

Stagecoaches Could Fix Our Electric Car Problem

One solution to climate change may come from our pre-automotive past.
by Woody Holton via Made By History on May 18, 2021
A couple eating dinner by candlelight in Texas

Experiments in Self-Reliance

Thoreau’s life is a lesson not in self-reliance, but in discerning whom and what to rely on, whether you’re one person or a state of 29 million.
by Jonathan Malesic via Commonweal on February 24, 2021
Horses standing next to a car.

What Extremely Muscular Horses Teach Us About Climate Change

You can’t understand the history of American energy use without them. A new visual history puts them in context.
by Robinson Meyer via The Atlantic on December 8, 2020
light

The Historical Cost of Light

How difficult was it to obtain artificial light before the 19th century? Well...
by Ilia Blinderman, Jan Diehm via The Pudding on December 1, 2020
Woman in the doorway of a kitchen.

Abolish Oil

The New Deal's legacies of infrastructure and economic development, and entrenching structural racism, reveal the potential and mistakes to avoid for the Green New Deal.
by Reinhold Martin via Places Journal on June 16, 2020

Vibrators Had a Long History as Medical Quackery

Before feminists rebranded them as sex toys, vibrators were just another medical device.
by Kim Adams via The Conversation on June 8, 2020

The Trouble with Triscuits

Though the "electricity biscuit" thesis is plausible, killjoy historians need more evidence.
by Charles Louis Richter via Contingent on March 31, 2020

The Real Nature of Thomas Edison’s Genius

The inventor did not look for problems in need of solutions; he looked for solutions in need of modification.
by Casey N. Cep via The New Yorker on October 21, 2019

The New Deal Wasn’t What You Think

If we are going to fund a Green New Deal, we need to acknowledge how the original actually worked.
by Louis Hyman via The Atlantic on March 6, 2019
Sign showing a hand pushing a button.

Cute as a Button? Think Twice

A new book examines the first generation of button-pushing Americans at the turn of the 20th century.
by Anna Feuer via Los Angeles Review of Books on November 30, 2018
Poster reading "Victory! Congress Passes Daylight Saving Bill," and "Get Your Hoe Ready!," depicting Uncle Sam and clock-related imagery.

100 Years Later, the Madness of Daylight Saving Time Endures

Unfortunately, there’s not an unlimited amount of daylight that we can squeeze out of our clocks.
by Michael Downing via The Conversation on March 9, 2018

The Last Scan

Inside the desperate fight to keep old TVs alive.
by Adi Robertson via The Verge on February 6, 2018

Nikola Tesla: The Extraordinary Life of a Modern Prometheus

Tesla created inventions that continue to alter our daily lives, but he died nearly penniless.
by Richard Gunderman via The Conversation on January 3, 2018

Here's What Benjamin Franklin Scholars Think About Lin-Manuel Miranda's Ode to the Inventor

Fact-checking the lyrics of Miranda's new song.
by Olivia B. Waxman via TIME on December 15, 2017
People visit the Trylon and Perisphere at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Color Photos of the 1939 New York World's Fair

Photographer Peter Campbell captured many scenes from the 1939 New York World's Fair in full color, both during the day and at night.
by Alan Taylor via The Atlantic on November 6, 2017
A young thomas edison poses next to a phonograph

How 19th Century Techno-Skeptics Ridiculed Thomas Edison

At his peak, newspapers loved to tease the inventor. They also feared him.
by Cara Giaimo via Atlas Obscura on February 28, 2017
View More
30 of
60

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History