Before Ben Franklin, people thought lightning was a scary type of fire. In 1751, Franklin tied a key to a kite’s tail and flew it in a thunderstorm.
He was very lucky he didn’t get zapped! A small electric spark jumped from the key. That proved lightning was really electricity. It also helped Franklin invent the lightning rod. They are still put on tall buildings to protect them from lightning strikes.
Have you ever heard the saying “There’s a better chance of getting hit by lightning”? It means something isn’t likely to happen. But Earth gets about 100 lightning strikes a second. Lightning is second only to floods as a weather-related killer. It also causes more than half of all forest fires. Nature’s pretty fireworks can be deadly.
