Static electricity is formed when an insulating material is rubbed with a cloth. This was first observed in amber (petrified resin). The Greek word for amber is ‘elektron’, from which our word ‘electricity’ has been derived. The demonstration of the attracting or repulsing properties of electrical charges had long looked like a magic trick. This demonstration models from the end of the 19th century date back to these first experiments. In 1747 the static phenomena were explained by Benjamin Franklin using an electric liquid theory: a shortage of this ‘fluid’ was called ‘negative’ and a surplus as ‘positive’. Franklin’s theory has long been superseded, but we still owe him the electrical terminology like ‘positively’ or ‘negatively charged’.
Demonstration devices for static electricity; four stands with objects
circa 1850 - 1874