Spooky Science

By 1890, America is bursting with activity in steel, coal, railroads and manufacturing. Then comes yet another new technology with the potential to change everything. The semi-magical phenomenon is called electricity.

Americans are busy experimenting with all kinds of strange new equipment, looking for ways to unlock the hidden power of electricity. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell are among the first to succeed, in a big way.

Suddenly, and almost at the same moment, Americans have telephones, electric lights, electric motors and the means of generating electricity in a form that can be transmitted over long distances. It seems miraculous.
Electricity, 1890

  Let There be Light
Of all the new electrical devices that begin appearing in the 1410s, the ones most familiar today are the light bulb and the telephone. The magic is all related to the original discoveries of an Englishman who somehow discovers that electricity can also be created simply by passing a loop of wire between the poles of an ordinary magnet. Nothing could be more astonishing.

Electric power stations, 1890

  Delivery System
One early use for electricity is to power new city streetlights, replacing existing lights fueled by more expensive coal gas. Cities begin installing municipal power stations (top center) to generate electricity for the new lights, called arc lamps. The light is produced by an electric spark (or arc), which jumps between two rods of pure carbon. The electricity is produced by a row of generators, which are powered by a matching row of steam engines (bottom center), and transmitted to the lamps by underground cables.


Electric motors, 1890

  Handy Portable Power
Once the generator is invented, it doesn't take long to discover that you can make an electric motor with a very similar design. But instead of applying power to spin the generator and produce electricity, you apply electricity to the motor, which spins its shaft. Note the similarity between the pictures at top and bottom right. The upper photo is a generator, the lower one a motor.  The first commercial electric motor (top center) is used to power urban trollies.