History
The lightning rod was invented by Benjamin Franklin in the Americas in 1749, and in Europe, probably independently and as the first grounded lightning rod ever, by the Czech priest Prokop Diviš in Bohemia (now Czech Republic), in 1754.
As buildings become taller, lightning becomes more of a threat. Lightning can damage structures made of most materials (masonry, wood, concrete and steel) as the huge currents involved can heat materials to high temperature, causing a potential for fire.
Read more about this topic: Lightning Rod
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)
“Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because, to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“History does nothing; it does not possess immense riches, it does not fight battles. It is men, real, living, who do all this.... It is not “history” which uses men as a means of achieving—as if it were an individual person—its own ends. History is nothing but the activity of men in pursuit of their ends.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)