Invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek, the Leyden Jar is an early device for storing electric charge. The most common design has a top electrode electrically connected to a metal foil coating part of the inner surface of a glass jar. A foil is then wrapped around the outside of the jar; the jar is charged by an electrostatic generator which is connected to the inner electrode while the outer plate remains grounded. In short, this is a way of storing fairly large amounts of electric charge (for the time period).

The Wimshurst machine is an electrostatic device that is used for generating high voltages. Developed between 1880 and 1883 by James Wimshurst, it belongs to a class of generators called influence machines, which are able to create electric charges by the process of electrostatic induction. Two insulated disks and their respective metal sectors are designed to rotate in opposite directions, passing a crossed metal neutralizer and it’s brushes. As a result, there is an imbalance of charges; when the imbalance reaches the breaking point, a spark jumps across the gap.