--- title: "What year was Lightning Conductor invented and how?" description: "What year was Lightning Conductor invented and how?" author: "Cox elliott" published: 2018-08-30 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49233/what-year-was-lightning-conductor-invented-and-how category: "innovation, discovery and technology" tags: ["innovation, discovery and technology"] reading_time: 2 minutes --- # What year was Lightning Conductor invented and how? What year was Lightning [Conductor](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/48981/who-invented-the-lightning-conductor) invented and how?\ \ \ ## Answers ### Answer by Harshal Vispute A **lightning rod**, also known as a **lightning conductor**, is a **metal rod** that is installed on a structure to protect it from **lightning** strikes. If lightning strikes the structure, it will strike the rod first and be carried to the **ground** via a wire, rather than going through the structure, where it could cause a fire or **[electrocution](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94030/what-is-static-electricity-which-materials-can-be-charged-with-static-electricity)**. **Finials**, **air terminals**, and **strike termination** devices are all terms used to describe **lightning rods**. \ A **lightning rod** is one of the system's components of a lightning protection system. To accomplish its protective role, the lightning rod must be connected to the earth. Lightning rods can be **hollow**, **solid**, **pointed**, **rounded**, **flat strips**, or **even bristle brush**-like in appearance. \ ![What year was Lightning Conductor invented and how?](https://answers.mindstick.com/questionanswer/8c840df1-05e6-4ca3-a7f1-dbdb531a99cd/images/52ebd99a-8c7c-46b8-a6e5-1a702c451a4a.jpeg)\ \ All lightning rods have one thing in common: they're all comprised of conductive materials like **[copper](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51801/who-introduced-silver-tanka-and-copper-jital-coins)** and **aluminum**. The most frequent materials used in protective devices are **[copper](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51801/who-introduced-silver-tanka-and-copper-jital-coins)** and **[copper alloys](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51801/who-introduced-silver-tanka-and-copper-jital-coins)**. \ **Benjamin Franklin** devised the pointed **lightning rod conductor**, also known as a **lightning attractor** or **Franklin rod**, in **1752** as part of his pioneering investigation of [**electricity**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94030/what-is-static-electricity-which-materials-can-be-charged-with-static-electricity). **Franklin** was the first to offer a system for testing his hypothesis, although not being the first to identify a link between **[electricity](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94030/what-is-static-electricity-which-materials-can-be-charged-with-static-electricity)** and **lightning**. \ 'The **[electrical](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94030/what-is-static-electricity-which-materials-can-be-charged-with-static-electricity) fire** would, I believe, be dragged out of a cloud silently, before it could come near enough to hit,' Franklin **speculated**, using an iron rod honed to a point. Before his alleged kite attempt, **Franklin** theorized on lightning rods for several years. --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49233/what-year-was-lightning-conductor-invented-and-how Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.