Alessandro Volta

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was an Italian physicist and chemist who was a pioneer of electricity and power and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the discoverer of methane. He invented the voltaic pile in 1799, and reported the results of his experiments in 1800 in a two-part letter to the president of the Royal Society. With this invention Volta proved that electricity could be generated chemically and debunked the prevalent theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings. Volta's invention sparked a great amount of scientific excitement and led others to conduct similar experiments, which eventually led to the development of the field of electrochemistry.

18 February 1745

Born on the same birth day (18 February): Bryan Oviedo • Eric Gairy • Jermaine Jenas • Tanguy Coulibaly • Yoko Ono

Born in the same month (February 1745): Henry James Pye