History of the battery his iron scalpel, the leg twitched. Galvani believed the energy that drove this contraction came from the leg itself, and called it "animal electricity". However, Alessandro Volta, a friend and fellow scientist, disagreed, believing this phenomenon was caused by two different metals joined together by a moist intermediary. He verified this hypothesis through experiment, and published the results in 1791. In 1800, Volta invented the first true battery, which came to be known as the voltaic pile. The voltaic pile consisted of pairs of copper and zinc discs piled on top of each other, separated by a layer of cloth
Polar Bear (battery-electric locomotive) Polar Bear (battery-electric locomotive) Polar Bear was a gauge battery-electric locomotive built by Wingrove & Rogers in 1921 as works no. 314 for the Groudle Glen Railway on the Isle of Man. Together with its sister, "Sea Lion", they were intended to replace two Bagnall steam locos of the same names. The locos were not a success and, despite "Polar Bear" being rebuilt with bogies and a battery truck, the steam locos were reboilered and returned to traffic. "Polar Bear" was eventually scrapped acround 1926. A replica loco was built by Alan Keef in 2003 for the rebuilt Groudle Glen