Electrostatics Timeline

Girolamo Cardano distinguishes between electrical and magnetic forces in De subtilitate rerum

Robert Boyle states that electric attraction and repulsion can act across a vacuum.

Benjamin Franklin establishes the link between lightning and electricity by the flying a kite into a thunderstorm and transferring some of the charge into a Leyden jar.

Charles Coulomb introduces the inverse-square law of electrostatics.

Michael Faraday began experiments leading to his discovery of the law of electromagnetic induction.

Michael Faraday discovers that light propagation in a material can be influenced by external magnetic fields.

J. J. Thomson discovers the electron.

Robert Millikan uses the oil-drop experiment to measure the charge of an electron.