Germany
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Otto von Guericke
Magdeburg (Saxony), Germany
Archival Overview
Mayor of Magdeburg who invented the mechanical vacuum pump, staged the famous 1654 Magdeburg Hemispheres demonstration with two teams of eight horses, and built the first electrostatic generator.
Biographical Record
Otto von Guericke (1602–1686) served for thirty years as Burgomaster of Magdeburg, guiding the city's reconstruction after its catastrophic destruction in the Thirty Years' War. Fascinated by atmospheric physics and vacuums, he invented the mechanical piston vacuum pump around 1650.
In 1654, before Emperor Ferdinand III at the Diet of Regensburg, Guericke demonstrated atmospheric pressure with the famous 'Magdeburg Hemispheres': two copper hemispheres fitted together with an oiled leather ring and evacuated of air could not be pulled apart by two teams of eight heavy draft horses pulling in opposite directions. In 1663, he constructed the first friction electrostatic generator using a rotating sulfur globe.
Key Life Milestones
The Magdeburg Hemispheres Demonstration
Demonstrated the immense power of atmospheric pressure before the Imperial Diet using evacuated copper hemispheres.
Invention of the First Electrostatic Generator
Built the first machine generating electrostatic sparks by rotating a sulfur ball against human palms.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialMagdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany