Water wheels used to grind wheat by ancient Greeks

The technology to take advantage of falling water and get useful mechanic energy is old.
Humans have been harnessing water to perform work for thousands of years. The Greeks used water
wheels for grinding wheat into flour more than 2,000 years ago
Besides grinding flour, the power of the water was used to saw wood and power textile mills and
manufacturing plants
Invented by French military engineer, Bernard Forest in mid 1700s
For more than a century, the technology for using falling water to create hydroelectricity has existed.
The evolution of the modern hydropower turbine began in the mid-1700s when a French hydraulic
and military engineer wrote a four volume of work called Bernard Forest Architecture of Hydraulique.
In this four volume work, he described using a vertical-axis versus a horizontal-axis machine.
The evolution of the modern hydropower turbine began in the mid-1700s
Hydroelectric power was also important during the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 1800s
and provided mechanical power for textile and machine industries.
The invention of first electric generator, Michael Faraday
Probably the most important year in hydropower history was in 1831 when the first electric generator
was invented by Michael Faraday. This layed the foundation for us to learn how to generate electricity
with hydropower. invention of the hydraulic reaction turbine created the sudden expansion of
hydropower that got an increased amount of commercial attention.
Appleton, The first operational hydroelectric station in US, in 1882
Appleton, Wisconsin became the first operational hydroelectric generating station in the United
States, in 1882, producing 12.5 kilowatts (kW) of power.
The total electrical capacity generated was equivalent to 250 lights
Within the next 20 years roughly 300 hydroelectric plants were operational around the world
7 years later, in 1889, the total number of hydroelectric power plant in the US had reached 200.
Contributes 16% of the global electricity generation today
Hydropower is considered a mature technology contributes about 16% of global electricity generation
today and will contribute even more in the future. - The