Michael Faraday was born into a poor family in Newington, England. He did not get much education, but he was part of a Christian sect called the Glassites that provided support in his life.

At 14 years of age, Faraday was apprenticed to a man name George Riebau, who was a bookbinder and bookseller. Faraday often read books during his apprenticeship and became interested in science, mainly electricity.

Faraday managed to obtain tickets to lectures by Sir Humphry Davy, an experienced chemist, at the Royal Institution. Faraday took thorough notes of all the lectures.

Faraday sent a long book to Davy based on his notes that he took at the lectures. This was to try to get a job and earn some money. Unfortunately for him, there were no opportunities available.

In 1813, one of the assistants at the Royal Institution was dismissed, so Davy decided to appoint Faraday as a lab assistant. Faraday learned a lot of chemistry during his apprenticeship, which ended in 1820.

Faraday started giving lectures at the Royal Institution in 1824.

Faraday founded the Friday Evening discourses and the Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution in 1826. These still are held today.

In 1831, Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, which was revolutionary in electronics. He invented the electric motor and the electric generator based on this principle. By doing this, Faraday showed that electricity is a force instead of a continuous fluid.

Faraday made many other discoveries and inventions until the 1840s when he started to get old and his work slowed down.

Faraday died in 1867 in Hampton Court at his house. A unit of capacitance, called the farad, was named in his honor.