Did you know today is Check Your Batteries Day? There truly is a day for everything, which leaves us asking – when was the last time you checked the batteries in your flashlights? Yes, those you have stored in the drawer or glove box for a “just in case” we need them moment.
In honor of the battery and the hope that you have in fact checked your batteries, we wanted to shine some light on just how far they have come with a few fun facts about batteries.
Ten Fun Facts About Batteries
1. The first battery was created by Alessandro Volta in 1798.
2. Archeologists tend to argue that batteries have been around much longer though. In 1938 a discovery was made in Iraq of a 5-inch pottery jar containing a copper cylinder that encased an iron rod. It’s thought to be an ancient battery.
3. The EPA estimates Americans purchase nearly 3 billion batteries each year. That’s a lot of power.
4. The first rechargeable battery was invented in 1859, when French physicist Gaston Plante invented the lead acid cell, which is still used in cars today. The lead acid cell paved the way to the creation of the NiMH, NiCd batteries and lithium ion batteries, other types of rechargeable batteries commonly used for items such as LED flashlights.
5. Unlike milk, the expiration date on a box of batteries doesn’t mean they need to be tossed. The batteries may start losing some efficiency by the time an expiration date arrives, but it still has a lot of life.
6. The founder of Eveready Battery, Conrad Hubert, invented the flashlight in 1898, aka the electric hand torch. (Eveready introduced the D-size battery for the first handheld flashlight.)
7. The word “battery” was used by Ben Franklin to describe multiple Leyden jars, which were considered power sources during his time. He pulled the word from the military term “battery”, which defined a group of weapons working together.
8. The first miniature batteries weren’t developed until the 1950s when Eveready brought them to market. This discovery forever changed how people wore and wound – or rather stopped winding – their watches.
9. In 1802 William Cruickshank from the UK invented the first electric battery capable of mass production. In other words, the general public could now have access to batteries.
10. You can make a battery out of potatoes; it’s not strong enough to power a LED flashlight though.