"western states lay outside of the various Standard Oil's production and refining networks, cities like Long Beach, California, Dallas, Texas, and Houston, Texas emerged as major centers for refining and managing these new fields under companies like Sunoco, Texaco, and Gulf Oil. Benjamin Franklin pioneered the study of electricity by being the first to describe positive and negative charges, as well as advancing the principle of conservation of charge. Franklin is best known for the apocryphal feat of flying a kite in thunderstorm to prove that lightning is a form of electricity which, in turn, led to the invention of"
"for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. On May 10, 1752, Thomas-François Dalibard of France conducted Franklin's experiment using a iron rod instead of a kite, and he extracted electrical sparks from a cloud. On June 15 , 1752, Franklin may possibly have conducted his well-known kite experiment in Philadelphia, successfully extracting sparks from a cloud. Franklin described the experiment in the ""Pennsylvania Gazette"" on October 19, 1752, without mentioning that he himself had performed it. This account was read to the Royal"
"of Franklin's historic kite experiment, the identity of the electricity developed by rubbing and by electrostatic machines (frictional electricity) with lightning had not been generally established. Dr. Wall, Abbot Nollet, Hauksbee, Stephen Gray and John Henry Winkler had indeed suggested the resemblance between the phenomena of ""electricity"" and ""lightning"", Gray having intimated that they only differed in degree. It was doubtless Franklin, however, who first proposed tests to determine the sameness of the phenomena. In a letter to Peter Comlinson of London, on 19 October 1752, Franklin, referring to his kite experiment, wrote, On 10 May 1742 Thomas-François Dalibard, at"
"Jacques de Romas Jacques de Romas (13 October 1713 – 21 January 1776) was a French physicist. He held a judiciary office in the présidial of his lifelong hometown of Nérac. As a hobbyist, he was a polymath scientist until specialising in electricity. He became known for physical experiments during thunderstorms and in 1750 proposed a connection between lightning and electricity when the chateau of Tampouy was hit by lightning strike. The same decade, Romas conducted the kite experiment that Benjamin Franklin proposed in 1750 in a letter to Peter Collinson, but that had not yet reached France. Raising a"
"conductive rods to attract lightning to a leyden jar, an early form of capacitor. Such an experiment was carried out in May 1752 at Marly-la-Ville in northern France by Thomas-François Dalibard. An attempt to replicate the experiment killed Georg Wilhelm Richmann in Saint Petersburg in August 1753; he was thought to be the victim of ball lightning. Franklin himself is said to have conducted the experiment in June 1752, supposedly on the top of the spire on Christ Church in Philadelphia. However, the spire at Christ Church was not added until 1754. Franklin's kite experiment was performed in Philadelphia in"
"original site on 13 February 2010. A school and several streets in the region are named after Romas. Jacques de Romas Jacques de Romas (13 October 1713 – 21 January 1776) was a French physicist. He held a judiciary office in the présidial of his lifelong hometown of Nérac. As a hobbyist, he was a polymath scientist until specialising in electricity. He became known for physical experiments during thunderstorms and in 1750 proposed a connection between lightning and electricity when the chateau of Tampouy was hit by lightning strike. The same decade, Romas conducted the kite experiment that Benjamin Franklin"
"a lightning storm. On 14 May 1753, his first kite experiment is said to have taken place with locals as his only audience. Other reports tell of his first public experiments on 7 July 1753 on a road near Nérac. The particulars of his experiments were however often confused later, and the encyclopedia of Chassang simply states that his experiments took place „since 1757“. It is also reported that he installed lightning rods later in the 1750s in his home region. Unlike many intellectuals of his era, the amateur physicist didn't travel much out of his home region. When he"
"in Thomas Browne's ""Pseudodoxia Epidemica"" of 1646. Further work was conducted in the 17th and early 18th centuries by Otto von Guericke, Robert Boyle, Stephen Gray and C. F. du Fay. Later in the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin conducted extensive research in electricity, selling his possessions to fund his work. In June 1752 he is reputed to have attached a metal key to the bottom of a dampened kite string and flown the kite in a storm-threatened sky. A succession of sparks jumping from the key to the back of his hand showed that lightning was indeed electrical in nature."
"reported by Hopkinson. Franklin wondered if this discovery could be used in a practical invention. He thought something could be made to attract the electricity out of storm clouds, but first he had to verify that lightning bolts really are giant electric sparks. He wrote Collinson and Cadwallader Colden letters about this theory. The 1752, Franklin letter to Collinson of October 19 of the kite experiment is noted by historian LeMay as a basis how it proved that lightning was electricity. Tom Tucker of the Isothermal Community College doubts the account, however, because of ambiguities in the account and points"
"in a letter to Collinson dated October 19, 1752. A man by the name of G. W. Richman was killed in 1753 from electrocution doing the kite experiment. Franklin had proven that lightning bolts and electricity were one and the same. He also showed that this ""electric fluid"" was attracted to a sharply pointed object high in the sky. An iron rod could have the other end put into the ground to create a path for safe conduction of the high voltage electricity. Thus, a way of diverting lightning bolts from wooden buildings and preventing them from going aflame due"
"these two separate events. He wrote about them in a lecture series. Though Benjamin Franklin has been most noted kite-wise with his lightning experiments, he has also been noted by many for his using kites to pull humans and ships across waterways. The George Pocock in the book ""A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails"" noted being inspired by Benjamin Franklin's traction of his body by kite power across a waterway. In his later years he suggested using the technique for pulling ships. Franklin noted a principle of refrigeration"
"wire-wrapped kite in a thunderstorm, Romas proved the electrical nature of lightning. During his experiment, he noticed ten feet long sparks and explosions. He also reported that during a repeat performance in front of a larger audience, he received severe jolts that were more intense than all he received before during experiments with Leyden jars. For this reason, he performed later experiments only with separately grounded conductors and kites that he handled via glass rods. On 12 July 1752, he wrote a letter to the académie of Bordeaux with a first report about his experiences with a grounded rod during"
"and from the electric fire thus obtained, he kindled spirits, and performed all other electrical experiments which are usually exhibited by an excited globe or tube."" The kite was not struck by visible lightning; had it been, Franklin would almost certainly have been killed. However, Franklin did notice that loose threads of the kite string were repelling each other and deduced that the Leyden jar was being charged. He moved his hand near the key and observed an electric spark, proving the electric nature of lightning. The Kite Experiment was described in The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 19, 1752 as follows:"
"the concept that electricity is attracted to points. Franklin then carried the idea a step forward and surmised that a pointed iron rod high above a rooftop would attract a lightning bolt, if the bolt was of electricity. Frenchman Thomas-Francois d'Alibald did the actual experiment May 10, 1752, as Franklin had suggested and lightning struck the iron rod. In London it was repeated in Spital Square on July 20, 1752, and again in Chelmsford, Essex, on August 12, 1752. The electricity attraction from a lightning storm was also done by Franklin himself in the kite experiment that he talked about"
"have been used for scientific purposes, such as Benjamin Franklin's famous experiment proving that lightning is electricity. Kites were the precursors to aircraft, and were instrumental in the development of early flying craft. Alexander Graham Bell experimented with very large man-lifting kites, as did the Wright brothers and Lawrence Hargrave. Kites had an historical role in lifting scientific instruments to measure atmospheric conditions for weather forecasting. Francis Ronalds and William Radcliffe Birt described a very stable kite at Kew Observatory as early as 1847 that was trialled for the purpose of supporting self-registering meteorological instruments at height. The Weather Doctor"
"found that the subjects experimented on lost weight, thus apparently showing that electricity quickened the excretions. The efficacy of electric shocks in cases of paralysis was tested in the county hospital at Shrewsbury, England, with rather poor success. Benjamin Franklin promoted his investigations of electricity and theories through the famous, though extremely dangerous, experiment of having his son fly a kite through a storm-threatened sky. A key attached to the kite string sparked and charged a Leyden jar, thus establishing the link between lightning and electricity. Following these experiments, he invented a lightning rod. It is either Franklin (more frequently)"
"a kite in the clouds. The kite experiment became known as a variant of the ""Philadelphia Experiment"" of 1752. Loxley and his wife Catherine, whom he married in 1761, had a total of twelve children, five of which lived to adulthood. He died on October 10, 1801, in Darby, Pennsylvania at the age of 80. He lived at 177 South Second Street in Philadelphia. Benjamin Loxley Benjamin Loxley, also known as Benjamin Lockley (December 20, 1720 – October 10, 1801) was a prominent Philadelphia master-builder and carpenter-architect in the American Colonial Period. He was also a well known American patriot"
"suggested as a source of available energy, or communications platform. The global electrical circuit is also applied to the study human health and air pollution, due of the interaction of negative ions and aerosols. The effect of global warming, and temperature-sensitivity of the Earth's electrical circuit is unknown. In the 18th century, scientists began understanding the link between lightning and electricity. In addition to the iconic kite experiments of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas-François Dalibard, some early studies of electric charges in a ""cloudless atmosphere"" were done by John Canton, Giambatista Beccaria, and John Read. In 1752, Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier observed"
"metal aerial with a sharp point. Before Franklin could carry out his experiment, in 1752 Thomas-François Dalibard erected a iron rod at Marly-la-Ville, near Paris, drawing sparks from a passing cloud. With ground-insulated aerials, an experimenter could bring a grounded lead with an insulated wax handle close to the aerial, and observe a spark discharge from the aerial to the grounding wire. In May 1752, Dalibard affirmed that Franklin's theory was correct. Around June 1752, Franklin reportedly performed his famous kite experiment. The kite experiment was repeated by Romas, who drew from a metallic string sparks long, and by Cavallo,"
"The standard account of Franklin's experiment is disputed by science historian Tom Tucker in 2003. According to Tucker, Franklin never performed the experiment, and the kite as described is incapable of performing its alleged role. Kite experiment The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed, conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. It was proposed and may have been conducted by Benjamin Franklin with the assistance of his son William Franklin. The experiment's"
"and confirm its flight characteristics, before adding an engine and flight controls, and flying it as an aeroplane. Kites have been used for signaling, for delivery of munitions, and for observation, by lifting an observer above the field of battle, and by using kite aerial photography. Kites have been used for scientific purposes, such as Benjamin Franklin's famous experiment proving that lightning is electricity. Kites were the precursors to the traditional aircraft, and were instrumental in the development of early flying craft. Alexander Graham Bell experimented with very large man-lifting kites, as did the Wright brothers and Lawrence Hargrave. Kites"
"of the kites to lift a man 50 feet (15.25 m) off the ground. By the end of that year he was regularly using the kite to lift men above 100 ft (30.5 m). Baden-Powell's kites were sent to South Africa for use in the Boer War, but by the time they arrived the fighting was over, so they were never put into use. Lawrence Hargrave invented his box kite in 1885, and on 12 November 1894, lifted himself from the beach in Stanwell Park, New South Wales using a four box kite rig, attached to the ground by piano"
"incidence and were fixed to on a central pine box-girder, mounted on wheels. Unlike Alphonse Pénaud's ""Planophore"" of 1871, which had to be hand-launched, the ""Military Kite"" could take off under its own power. Thomas Moy Thomas William Moy (1823–1910) was an English engineer and patent agent best known for his ""Aerial Steamer"" of 1875. Moy was born in the Liberty of the Rolls (now part of Westminster) in London around 1823. In the 1851 Census of Islington he is listed as living with his wife Henrietta and six-month-old daughter and is described as a 28-year-old Law Stationers Clerk. In"
"of Jean-Antoine Nollet had led to the issue of the electrical nature of lightning being posed as a prize question at Bordeaux in 1749. In 1750, it was the subject of public discussion in France, with a dissertation of Denis Barberet receiving a prize in Bordeaux; Barberet proposed a cause in line with the triboelectric effect. The same year, Franklin reversed his previous skepticism of electrical lightning's attraction to high points. The physicist Jacques de Romas also wrote a mémoire with similar ideas that year, and later defended them as independent of Franklin's. In 1752, Franklin proposed an experiment with"
"of Saint Petersburg, Russia, created a kite-flying apparatus similar to Benjamin Franklin's proposal a year earlier. Richmann was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences when he heard thunder and ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. While the experiment was under way, ball lightning appeared and travelled down the string, struck Richmann's forehead and killed him. The ball had left a red spot on Richmann's forehead, his shoes were blown open, and his clothing was singed. His engraver was knocked unconscious. The door frame of the room was split and the door was torn"
"train of four of his box kites at Stanwell Park Beach on 12 November 1894. Aided by James Swain, the caretaker at his property, the kite line was moored via a spring balance to two sandbags (see image). Hargrave carried an anemometer and clinometer aloft to measure windspeed and the angle of the kite line. He rose 16 feet in a wind speed of 21 mph. This experiment was widely reported and established the box kite as a stable aerial platform. Hargrave claimed that ""The particular steps gained are the demonstration that an extremely simple apparatus can be made, carried"
"Appearance of the Electrical Fluid,"" (Memoirs Am. Acad. Vol. 1, 1785, pp. 257–259); and ""Observations on Electricity and an Improved Mode of Constructing Lightning Rods,"" (Memoirs, Vol. 2, pt. 2, 1804, pp. 96–104). The first paper was written in 1783, and the ""curious appearance"" described was produced by raising an electrical kite at the time of a thunder shower. The experiments, however, were tried in July, 1771. At that time the author mentions that there stood some lofty trees near his house, and also a shop near by it. His parents, family, and neighbors witnessed the ""electrical effect"" he succeeded"
"10, 1752, and later repeated several more times throughout Europe, though after a fatality in 1753 it was less frequently tried. Franklin declared that this ""sentry-box experiment"" showed that lightning and electricity were one and the same. Franklin realized that wooden buildings could be protected from lightning strikes, and the deadly fires that often resulted, by placing a pointed iron on a rooftop, with the other end of the rod placed deep into the ground. The sharp point of the lightning rod would attract the electrical discharge from the cloud, and the lightning bolt would hit the iron rod instead"
"his accomplishments was the invention of a device to prevent frost from harming fruit. He was a pioneer in the use of kites to study conditions at high altitudes. In 1885 at Blue Hill, Boston, he modernized the experiments of Benjamin Franklin by attaching a voltmeter to a kite and measuring the voltage difference between the ground and several hundred feet up. He also made studies of the atmospheric effects of smoke, the connection between the aurora and electricity in the atmosphere, and the dangers posed by lightning. He is the author of a cloud atlas. He is also known"
"stand inside. George Pocock (inventor) George Pocock (1774–1843) was an English schoolteacher and inventor of the ""Charvolant"", a kite-drawn carriage. Pocock was interested in kites from an early age, and experimented with pulling loads using kite power, gradually progressing from small stones to planks and large loads. He taught at a school in Prospect Place, Bristol and continued his experiments with his pupils. By 1820 he had determined that in combination they could support considerable weight and began experimenting with man-lifting kites. In 1824, he used a 30-foot (9 m) kite with a chair rig to lift his daughter, Martha"
"experimenters, Hauksbee, Newton, Wall, Nollet, and Gray, that lightning was caused by electric discharges. In 1708, Dr. William Wall was one of the first to observe that spark discharges resembled miniature lightning, after observing the sparks from a charged piece of amber. Benjamin Franklin's experiments showed that electrical phenomena of the atmosphere were not fundamentally different from those produced in the laboratory, by listing many similarities between electricity and lightning. By 1749, Franklin observed lightning to possess almost all the properties observable in electrical machines. In July 1750, Franklin hypothesized that electricity could be taken from clouds via a tall"
"Thomas-François Dalibard Thomas-François Dalibard (born in Crannes-en-Champagne, France in 1709, died in 1778) was a French physicist. He first met U.S. scientist Benjamin Franklin in 1767 during one of Franklin's visits to France and it is said that they became friends. In 1750, Benjamin Franklin published a proposal for an experiment to determine if lightning was electricity. He proposed extending a conductor into a cloud that appeared to have the potential to become a thunderstorm. If electricity existed in the cloud, the conductor could be used to extract it. Dalibard, who at the suggestion of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon,"
"his cousin already lived. Their daughter Margaret was born on January 11, 1888 in New York City. Except where noted otherwise, all information comes from the following article: William Abner Eddy William Abner Eddy (January 28, 1850 – December 26, 1909) was an American accountant and journalist famous for his photographic and meteorological experiments with kites. The scientific significance of Eddy's improvements to kite-flying was short-lived, due to the advent of Lawrence Hargrave's rectangular box kites. Nevertheless, in the year following Eddy's death, a train of ten Eddy kites reaching an altitude of set a height record for several years."