BAGHDAD – Did humans discover electricity long before the history books tell us? That is the implication of the mysterious Baghdad Battery.

‘Baghdad Battery’ is a name given to a group of items excavated in Khujut Rabu, Iraq in 1936. But it wasn’t until 1940, when William Konig, director of the National Museum of Iraq, published a paper on the objects that they were revealed to the modern world.

The objects are five-inch tall terracotta jars, that contain a copper cylinder, which itself contains an iron rod. When the jar is filled with water that contains a common acidic agent like lemon juice or vinegar, it would surround the iron rod as well. Konig’s hypothesis was that given that copper and iron form an electrochemical pair, the acidic agent could help produce an electric current.

While that may not sound very exciting, the implications are astounding. Archaeologists are unclear on when they were created, but the jars could date back as far as 250 BC. This means that humans may have known how to use electricity almost 2,000 years before Benjamin Franklin “discovered” it!

What could the Batteries have been used for? It is generally agreed that the items would have been inefficient as actual batteries, but could have been used in any number of other ways. Scientists believe it could have been anything from electroplating statues to producing a religious experience through the electrical sensation.

The hypothesis that ancient Iraq had access to electricity further fuels the belief that the ancient Egyptians understood it as well. This is usually supported by what is called the “Dendera light”, a stone relief in the Hathor temple. While most interpret the image as a snake within a lotus flower, others believe it is an electric lamp.

1752: Early Draft of Franklin Autobiography Reveals Shocking Secret

As recounted in his memoirs, Benjamin Franklin flew a kite during a storm to prove that lightning was, in fact, electricity. A key was attached to the kite and, when it was struck by a bolt from above, the Founding Father saw it light up, thus proving his theory.

However, in a newly uncovered first draft of his autobiography, Franklin recounts how he also experienced a short-lived but strange side effect from the experiment.

“When I touched my wife Deborah afterward, white sparks did fly off me, shocking her,” he wrote. “Our cat almost hit the ceiling when I went to pet her. I thought, for a moment, John Adams had come to visit — but it was my electric touch that did cause it. No doubt ’tis short-lived.”

However, Franklin’s condition was even more extreme than he thought.

“The next day I was debating the question of independence with my fellow Philadelphians,” said Franklin. “I became very agitated, and when I threw up my hands in disgust bolts of electricity flew out of them, striking a tree and dislodging a branch not far from Mr. John Hancock.”

Intrigued, Franklin waved his arms again, shooting more crackling energy around the green.

“While the question of independence was not decided right then, I was able to ‘convince’ my fellow congressmen to personally liberate themselves from my presence.”

After a week Franklin’s electric powers soon faded. However, his experience taught him a great deal about the nature of energy, and inspired him to invent the lightning rod, which protects ships and houses from electrical damage.

“I was quite a lightning rod myself with the missus,” he concluded in the excised passage.