In eighteen forty, steam escaping from a boiler at a coal mine sparked an electrical phenomenon. A curious solicitor named William Armstrong, collaborating with physicist Michael Faraday, developed the discovery into a generator with forty-six steam jets producing twenty-two-inch sparks—powerful enough to knock out a dog. Despite its misleading name, the Armstrong hydroelectric machine generated static electricity, not water power. Today it's used to polarize paint in spray systems, though it has also caused dangerous explosions in oil tankers. According to Wikipedia, it's a remarkable example of accidental discovery leading to both scientific wonder and unforeseen hazard.

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