Where do magnets come from? How did we start using magnets? These are some of the countless questions that pop into my mind. Thank goodness for the Internet!
No one is certain when the first magnets were used, but ancient peoples from around the world have used them.
They stumbled upon some lodestones that were naturally magnetized. These odd chunks of magnetite would stick to and get repelled by other lodestones.
Where did the name “magnet” originate?
Let’s travel back to Ancient Greece around 800 BC, to the foot of Mount Sipylus (now in Western Turkey). This is the city Magnesia ad Sipylum.
This city in renown for the magical rocks called lodestones. These rocks are black like iron but also have silver flecks and veins. The locals call the rocks “magnetum”, which means stones from Magnesia.