June 15, 1752, Philadelphia.
It was a stormy day and Benjamin Franklin decided to demonstrate the theory about lightning that he had been defending for years.
His idea consisted of tying a metal key to a kite and then tying the string to a silk thread to protect his knuckles.
It was a very risky experiment. But Benjamin Franklin was able to prove his theory when the metal key received an electric charge from the air.
Two days earlier, Benjamin Franklin observed that an iron nail conducted electricity from a metal sphere. He was thus able to demonstrate that lightning could be attracted to metal and that directing it to an earth ground could prevent numerous fatal accidents and protect buildings.
After the success of the experiment, he came up with his great idea of placing a metal rod ending in a point on the roofs. The Lightning Rod was born.
Soon, the Franklin lightning rod, named in honor of its inventor, would be found protecting many homes and buildings.
Since then, the lightning rod has evolved into our ADVANCE+, SIGMA+ and Electron E15 lightning rods. These offer us greater protection, and countless lives have been saved thanks to this great invention.
