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Brush Arc Electric LampsIn 1775, Italian scientist Alessandro Volta devised the electrophorus, a device that produced a static electric charge and in 1800 he developed the voltaic pile, a forerunner of the electric battery. Building on these electrical discoveries, Sir Humphry Davy found that bright sparks were given off when the voltaic pile was discharged and a specially bright spark could be obtained by using well-burnt charcoal as electrodes.