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A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

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Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

Dancers at a Cinco de Mayo festival at the Mission District, San Francisco, California. (Photo dated 2019.) holidays

Is Cinco de Mayo Mexico's Independence Day?

Portrait of a mountain gorilla at a short distance. gorilla close up portrait.The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Falling Stars: 10 of the Most Famous Endangered Species

Aspirin pills.

7 Drugs that Changed the World

Figure 13: A Maxim machine gun, belt-fed and water-cooled, operated by German infantrymen, World War I.

7 Deadliest Weapons in History

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Drinking water is poured into a glass.

Water Fluoridation: Just the Facts

alternator: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	alternating-current generator

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automobile alternator

automobile electrical system

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Topics

magneto Ferranti-Thomson dynamo induction generator alternating current electric generator magnetohydrodynamic power generator thermionic power converter

Key People

Alexanderson alternator

Ernst F.W. Alexanderson

American electrical engineer