The first cable in the automobile had the terminal designation 1 and was long time a signal transducer for the ignition. With the development of the internal combustion engine electric motors served as vehicle engines, a development which is also planned for the future. Thus the history of the electrical engineering is connected with the development of the automobile.
| 1752 | Lightning protector (Franklin, I) |
| 1800 | Simple galvanic battery (Volta, I) |
| 1801 | Warming up of current conductor (de Thenard) |
| 1808 | Arc lamp in operation (Davy, GB) |
| 1820 | Magnetic effect of electrical current (Christian Oestedt, D), theory of the interaction of transducers with current (Ampere, F) |
| 1821 | Thermoelectrical effects (Seebeck, D) |
| 1826 | Ohm rules (Georg Simon Ohm, D) |
| 1832 | Development of the telegraphy |
| 1834 | Rules of Lenz (electromagnetism), thermoelectrical effect 2 (Peltier, F) |
| 1835 | Electrical light (Bowman, GB) |
| 1841 | Light bulb, carbon powder, platin, vacuum (patent, de Moleyns, GB) |
| 1845 | Light bulb, carbon stick (Wellington Starr, US) |
| 1851 | Fire alarm (Siemens, D) |
| 1854 | Carbon fibre lamp (Göbel, D) |
| 1857 | Tube light, weak light (Geißler, D) |
| 1860 | Light bulb, filament from carbonised paper (Swan, GB) |
| 1861 | Development of the phone |
| 1865 | Electromagnetic light spreading (Maxwell) |
| 1866 | Operating, 9000 t heavy Transatlantic wire (Field, GB) |
| 1872 | Light bulb, carbon filament, (Patent, Nikolayevich, RUS) |
| 1876 | Carbon microphone (granules) (Edison, US), basis of the telephone |
| 1877 | Phonograph (Edison), commercial utilization of the telegraph (US) |
| 1878 | Patent on light bulb (Swan, GB) |
| 1880 | Carbon filament light, socket (base patent, Edison, US), pull-/pressure-effect on crystals and their charge - Piezo effect (Curie, F) |
| 1881 | Generator, driven by steam engine (Edison, US) |
| 1882 | Direct current-power plant (Edison, New York) |
| 1883 | Induction engine with alternating current (Tessla, F) |
| 1885 | Glowing gas light (Auer, A) |
| 1888 | Radio set, electromagnetic waves (Hertz, D) |
| 1889 | Electrical chair (Kemmler, Westinghouse, US) |
| 1890 | Counting of the people per Hollerith (US) |
| 1891 | Kinematograph (Edison, US) |
| 1893 | Radio (Tessla, US), film studio (Edison, US) |
| 1895 | Niagara-power plant (Westinghouse, Tessla), Tessla-coil, film (US), cinema show with kinematograph (brothers Lumiere, Paris) |
| 1896 | Telegraphical spark gap |
| 1897 | Cathode ray tube, base for TV |
| 1898 | Metalfilamentlight (Patent, Auer, D) |
| 1900 | Quant (Planck, D), metalfilamentlight (von Welsbach, D) |
| 1901 | Mercury-vapour-lamp (Cooper-Hewitt), telegraphy-wire between GB and Kapstadt (South Africa) |
| 1902 | Patent colour TV |
| 1903 | Theory of relativity (Einstein, CH) |
| 1904 | Iron-nickel-accumulator, elektrical piano, patent radar system (D) |
| 1906 | OSRAM, amplifier-technology (von Lieben, D), vacuum cleaner |
| 1907 | Electron tube (de Forest, US) |
| 1908 | Battery operated car light; ´wanted´ circular per radio picture (France, GB) |
| 1910 | Neon tube (Paris, F) |
| 1911 | Divided atoms (Rutherford, GB), Supra wire (wire almost without resistance) |
| 1913 | Atom model (Niels Bohr, DK), self oscillating amplifier circuit (Meißner, D), light bulbs with wolfram wire-technology (as today); solar energy with parabol mirrors |
| 1915 | Record player |
| 1916 | Electrons on eliptical orbits (Sommerfeld, D) |
| 1917 | Cinema in Technicolor (US) |
| 1920 | Experiments with wireless telephon (France), first radio transmission show |
| 1922 | Radio picture across the Atlantic; US-technicians introduce car radio |
| 1925 | Math for Quantum mechanics (Heisenberg, D), TV broadcast, small picture camera |
| 1926 | Traffic light (Berlin), current operated lawnmower (GB) |
| 1927 | Quartz clock(US) |
| 1928 | Sound film, TV in shop (US) |
| 1931 | Electron microscope (D); TV broadcast (GB, Derby von Epsom Downs) |
| 1933 | Telex machine (Siemens, D) |
| 1934 | Camera, broadcast, TV (Farnsworth, US) |
| 1935 | Tape recorder (AEG, D), public picture telephone (US) |
| 1936 | Flourescent lamp (Osram, D), printed circuits, canons with radar |
| 1941 | Electromechanical computer with program (Zuse, Germany) |
| 1946 | Local mobile telephon (St. Louis, US) |
| 1947 | Transistor, base for electronics (Bardeen, US) |
| 1948 | Synchronised flashlight (Fischer, D) |
| 1951 | Nuclear power, first colour TV broadcast (US) |
| 1956 | Commercial nuclear power plant (GB) |
| 1954 | Transistor radio introduced (US), solar cell (Bell Labs, US), |
| 1952 | Public TV in Germany |
| 1960 | American physician builds first Laser |
| 1962 | LED in function |
| 1964 | High speed train (160 km/h) between Tokio and Osaka, Plasma-screen technology |
| 1965 | Power failure causes half-day blackout (North east US) |
| 1966 | Telephone via fiber optics wire (US) |
| 1967 | Tidal power plant with 240 megawatt (St. Malo, France) |
| 1969 | Start computer wiring, forerunner Internet |
| 1970 | LC-display (Sharp, J), Assuan-dam in Egypt |
| 1978 | Magnetically levitated vehicle with up to 337 km/h (Japan), german glas fibre wire |
| 1980 | Compact fluorescent lamp (Philips, NL) |
| 1981 | Large solar power plant (1 megawatt) in Sicilie |
| 1983 | Large wind power generator ”Growian” in Germany |
| 1984 | Commercial TV in Germany |
| 1986 | Tschernobyl (Sowjet-union) |
| 1990 | Air-emmision rules - introduction of electro cars (California, US) |
| 1991 | Largest power plant in the world (dam between Brasil and Paraguay) 12800 megawatt |
| 1993 | Plasma-colour screen (Fujitsu, J) |
| 1994 | Daimler-Benz introduces prototype with fuel cell-drive |
| 1996 | German wind energy with 2875 megawatt largest in world |
History of Electrical Engineering "Development of the spark plugs - click to enlarge!")
