1831Reputable sourceWell documented
Faraday and Electromagnetic Induction
On the timeline · around 1831 ·
What happened
A self-taught former bookbinder's apprentice, Michael Faraday became one of the greatest experimenters in history. In 1831 he discovered electromagnetic induction — that a changing magnetic field generates an electric current — and imagined space as filled with invisible lines of 'force,' or fields.
Why it matters
Induction is the principle behind every electric generator and transformer, the foundation of the electrical age. Faraday's concept of the field was one of the most profound ideas in physics, later given mathematical form by Maxwell.