It’s all too easy to forget the role that batteries played at key moments in time. This was often when users needed independent, portable energy, that was free of utility grids. We dedicate this post to batteries in history, and the critical support they played in our technological evolution. Spare a moment to ponder where we might be now, if we did not have batteries by our side back then.
It Helped That Early Technology Was Simple
Our collective mind boggles at what a company safety officer might say if they saw our photo of that workshop. But when we look carefully, we see the energy is in the ceiling out of harm’s way. That power transfers to the machinery via fan belts, although there are no safety belt covers present.
The person on the left is manufacturing Edison batteries, or so the annotation says. Remember, 1914 was long before we even had pocket calculators. Electronics and diodes were somewhere in the distant future. Batteries were also crude devices back then …
Edison was an intrepid pioneer. However, he was also an astute businessperson with his eye on making money with electricity. History credits him with inventing the first working light bulb, sound recording devices, motion pictures, and multiplex telegraphs among many others. Often times he relied on batteries during development, and off-site demonstrations too.
Batteries in History Including in Wartime
Thomas Edison is credited with saying, “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do, doesn’t mean it’s useless.” Generals and admirals often used technology in innovative new ways that brought battleground successes.
Perhaps this is how our favorite topic, batteries, became indispensable in wartime as carriers of portable electricity. We conclude this post with a World War 2 photograph of British Royal Air Force technicians testing batteries in history, at Ford motor company in the United States in 1943. Although many would prefer them used in peace.
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Edison Nickel-Iron Battery Energy Cycle
