"May the Force be with you"
With Star Wars Episode VII “The Force Awakens” premiering in Paris, those legendary light sabers remind us of when in 1887, Parisian Trouvé created his lightweight electric swordfight. A sword and a breastplate became the polar opposites of a portable dichromate of potash battery worn by the combatant.
The sword had been rubbed to create iron filings. Whenever a sword touched the breastplate of the other combatant, this produced sparks and a powerful light came on so long as the sword was touching the shield. When both swords touched both breastplates at the same time, the effect was spectacular!
The Trouvé electric swordfight effect was used first at the Théâtre Déjazat in La Grenouille, and then at Les Nouveautés in a Revue.
