Electricity America discovered the power of electricity when "Michael Faraday showed in 1831 that a wire carrying an electric current would tend to move if placed in a magnetic field, and conversely a current would be generated in a wire moved through a magnetic field. Thus electricity could be converted into motion and motion into electricity" (Williams 170). However, because the direct-current transmission technique in use at the time degraded quickly and could not be sent over long power lines, few Americans were able to use the new technology until much later in the century, when Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison's assistant, developed an alternating current that could be sent over long distances without deteriorating (Williams 170). The first commercial power station went into operation in September of 1882, providing electric power to customers within one square mile of Pearl Street in lower Manhattan (Edison Biography--Edison NHS). Articles New York Times March 5, 1876: "The Velocity of Electricity" January 17, 1888: "Death by Electricity" Periodicals The New England Magazine, "The Editor's Table," April 1891 Back to Inventions of Widespread Use