Michael Faraday was born in 1791 just outside London, England. Michael’s father, a blacksmith who was often too ill to work steadily, could hardly afford to feed himself, his wife, and Michael and his three siblings. He could certainly not afford to send his children to school. Up until he was a teenager, Michael could only perform rudimentary reading, writing, and math, basic skills he learned at his church’s Sunday school. When Michael was 14, his father arranged a seven-year apprenticeship for him under George Riebau, a bookbinder. One of the perks of the job was that George allowed Michael to read any of the books they worked on. Michael read books on a variety of subjects but became passionate about science. Michael’s desire to learn impressed George as well as his customers. One customer gave Michael tickets to attend four lectures by Humphry Davy, professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution. Michael took copious notes and bound them in book form. When Michael’s apprenticeship with the bookbinder ended, 22-year-old Michael asked Humphry for a job and provided his bound notes. Humphry was taken aback by Michael’s interest, understanding, and determination, and hired Michael to be his assistant at the Royal Institute. For the next 18 months, Michael accompanied Humphry on a tour of scientific institutions in Europe where he met noted scientists including André-Marie Ampère (for whom the ampere or amp is named) and Alessandro Volta (for whom the volt is named).
In 1820, Michael had mastered chemistry to the point that he was developing his own theoretical views and ways to test his theories. When Humphry retired, Michael replaced him as professor of chemistry at the Royal Institute. While a professor, Michael became the first chemist to liquefy a “permanent” gas, one which the scientific community believed was incapable of liquification. He discovered benzene, a colorless and highly flammable gas with a sweet smell which is partially responsible for the odor of gasoline. His experiments with chemistry combined with electricity transformed electricity from a curiosity to a useful technology and led to him being called the father of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. Among his many inventions were the electric motor, the electric generator, electric transformers, and a container for holding hydrogen.
In 1824, Michael was performing experiments with hydrogen to understand its properties. He experimented with several different containers to determine the best vessel for holding hydrogen. In one experiment, Michael cut out two pieces of raw, tacky rubber into circles, rubbed flour on the center of the two pieces to prevent it from sticking, and pressed the edges of the rubber together. The edges of the raw rubber sealed to itself automatically. The scientific community was so enthralled with Michael’s new container that in the following year, 1825, rubber manufacturer Thomas Hancock began producing do-it-yourself rubber hydrogen container kits for scientists. Rubber manufacturers eventually mass-produced and marketed these containers to the public. Each of us has probably owned a modernized version of Michael’s hydrogen container. Rather than hydrogen, we fill ours with helium. In that chemistry lab, Michael Faraday invented what we now know as the toy rubber balloon. Can you imagine a world without Michael Faraday’s hydrogen containers?
Sources:
1. “The Genius of Michael Faraday,” American Association fo rthte Advancement of Science, September 11, 2012, accessed June 14, 2026, https://www.aaas.org/
2. “Balloons,” Science World, accessed June 14, 2026, https://www.scienceworld.ca/
3. Dmitriy Vaysman, “A Brief History of Party Balloons,” Balloon Lab, January 24, 2024, accessed June 14, 2026, https://balloonlabusa.com/a-