The ball of lightning was the size of a man's fist, and it chose Georg Wilhelm Richmann's forehead.

The Astronomer Who Disappeared Into Russia: Georg Wilhelm Richmann's Fatal Spark

When Lightning Struck the Man Who Tried to Capture It

A Russian physicist became the first scientist killed by electricity while trying to measure lightning.

The summer storm rolled over St. Petersburg on August 6, 1753, but Georg Wilhelm Richmann saw only opportunity. The German-born physicist had spent years in the Russian Academy of Sciences, chasing the invisible fire that Benjamin Franklin had famously tamed with a kite. Today, Richmann would go further. He would measure it.

In his laboratory, an iron rod rose from the roof, connected by brass wire to his latest invention: the 'gnomon,' a device designed to quantify electrical force. As thunder shook the windows, Richmann stood beside his apparatus, his engraver Ivan Sokolov at his side to document the experiment. The Academy's president had urged caution. Richmann had smiled and waved him off.

At approximately 12:15 in the afternoon, a blue-white ball of fire erupted from the gnomon. Witnesses described it as a fist-sized globe of lightning that leapt toward Richmann's forehead. The crack was deafening. Sokolov was thrown backward, his coat singed, his ears ringing. When he regained his senses, he found Richmann slumped against the wall, a dark burn marking his brow, smoke rising from his shoes. The soles had blown apart from the inside.

Georg Wilhelm Richmann became the first…

💡 Richmann's engraver, Ivan Sokolov, survived the blast and later created the only known illustration of the fatal experiment, becoming an invaluable historical document.