Timeline of batteries

1798:

Italian physicist Alessandro Volta makes the first battery. His “voltaic pile” –as it
comes to be known- consists of stacks of zinc, acid-moistened cardboard and copper.

1836:

English chemist John F. Daniell improves Volta’s battery: preventing the
corrosion that normally occurs with Volta’s batteries.

1859:

Gaston Plante invents the lead-acid battery used in cars up to this day.

1868:

French chemist Georges Leclanche creates the first “wet cell” battery. This will
eventually evolve into the batteries we use today, the “dry cell” battery.

1888:

German scientist Dr. Carl Gassner invents the “dry cell.” His battery is similar to
the carbon-zinc batteries of today.

1896:

American dry cell manufacturer, Columbia makes the first commercially available
battery. This company turns into Eveready Battery Company- today known as Energizer
Battery Company.

1898:

Conrad Hubert creates the first flashlight; he calls it an, “electric hand torch.”

1900s:

Thomas Alva Edison improves the car battery. His other battery improvements
make their way into trains, and mines. This becomes one of Edison’s biggest cash
generators: meeting or exceeding the light bulb and the motion picture machine.

1956:

Eveready Battery Company develops the 9-volt battery.

1959:

Eveready Battery Company develops a commercially available alkaline battery.

1960:

Miniature silver-oxide batteries or “button batteries” are developed for hearing
aides and watches. The first nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery system is developed
by Waldmar Junger in Sweden.

1992:

The first lithium batteries are commercially available. These are the most
powerful AA-size batteries on the market.

2000-present:

Innovations in rechargeable technology introduce products such as
Nickel-Metal hydride rechargeable batteries, titanium high-performance batteries, and
15-minute rechargeable batteries.

Future:

The future is both bright and challenging for batteries. A battery has been
developed in Israel that can be printed on paper. This can open up huge possibilities for
handheld devices and other personal electronics. While it is obvious that transportable
energy will always be needed, it may not always be batteries that provide it. Fuel cells
may take over as the favorable form of portable energy.