When was Michael Faraday born?

Michael Faraday was born on 22 September 1791 in Newington Butts.

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Michael Faraday

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British scientist (1791–1867)

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Michael Faraday (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed vastly to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and electrolysis. Despite receiving little formal education, as an autodidact Faraday became one of the most influential scientists in history. It was by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. He similarly discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology. The SI unit of capacitance, the farad, is named after him.

Quick facts

Born: 22 September 1791 wd
Place of birth: Newington Butts wd
Died: 25 August 1867 wd
Place of death: Hampton Castle wd
Citizenship: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Kingdom of Great Britain wd
Occupation: physicist, chemist, inventor, writer, university teacher wd
Spouse: Sarah Barnard wd

Awards wd

Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order
Fellow of the Royal Society (1824)
Copley Medal (1832)
Royal Medal (1835)
Rumford Medal (1846)
Albert Medal (1866)
Royal Society Bakerian Medal (1857)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1832)
honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (1839)

About

As a chemist, Faraday discovered benzene and tetrachloroethylene, investigated the clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early form of the Bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularised terminology such as "anode", "cathode", "electrode" and "ion". Faraday ultimately became the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution, a lifetime position.

Faraday was an experimentalist who conveyed his ideas in clear and simple language, and thought and sensed the physical world in a visual manner, rather than in words or symbols. His mathematical abilities did not extend as far as trigonometry and were limited to the simplest algebra. Physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell took the work of Faraday and others and summarised it in a set of equations…

Questions

When was Michael Faraday born?: Michael Faraday was born on 22 September 1791 in Newington Butts.

Sources

Last updated 31 October 2026 · facts checked 5 November 2026

Cite this page

"Michael Faraday". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/michael-faraday. Retrieved 5 November 2026.

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Text from the Wikipedia article Michael Faraday, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Michael Faraday sitting crop.jpg — Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain.

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