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Alessandro Volta (February 18, 1745 - March 5, 1827) was an Italian physicist. He became interested in electricity in 1786 after seeing the work of Galvani. Volta was the first to show that an electrical current flowed when two dissimilar metals were brought into contact. In 1779 he became a professor of experimental physics at the University of Pavia, a chair that he occupied for almost 40 years. In 1800 he constructed a device which used this effect to produce a large flow of electricity. Bowls of salt solution were connected together by metal strips, each composed of copper at one end and tin or zinc at the other, and a current was produced. A compact version of this, using a stack of discs of copper, zinc and cardboard moistened with salt solution, was shown to Napoleon in 1801. Upon presenting his invention, he was awarded the medal of the Legion of Honor and made a count. He died in 1827 just after his 82nd birthday. The unit of electrical potential, the volt (V), is named after him.
