Benjamin Franklin first found out the nature of electricity, but it was Thomas Edison who figured out how to harness it and put it to use. He was travelling through Wyoming farm country with his fellow astronomers when he noticed horse-drawn carts loaded up and going over long distances by rail. He conceived there should be a way to move the loads by electrical power alone. Edison had already developed some lightweight and relatively efficient electrical generators, and after some work on the incandescent light bulb he switched tracks, as it were, and began to develop his electric rail system.

On this day, May 13, in 1880 Edison’s electric railway went into operation at his workshop in Menlo Park, New Jersey. His invention ran well with no load, and the next step was to test its power, so Edison invited the others in the lab to jump in the wagon.

Even with three (albeit small) cars full of passengers, the locomotive ran fine for a time. Several mechanical issues were uncovered, which forced Edison to conclude the test for a time and fix them before restarting. Imperfections of one kind and another were continually uncovered the more the prototype rail line operated, but Edison was able to overcome all. Before long his line developed a regular route, with the three cars loaded with freight and passengers going back and forth over the length of the track.