Electricity, as a natural phenomenon, was of great interest to researchers in the 18th century. Among many others, Georg Wilhelm Richmann, a Baltic German physicist from Pärnu. In his early years he studied in Tallinn, later in Germany at the universities of Halle and Jena. After his education, Richmann spent the rest of his life as a professor of physics at the university in St. Petersburg and he became a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Richmann was particularly interested in atmospheric electricity. To record his research, he invented an electrometer. Electrical research led scientist to learn about the laws of natural phenomena through observations and experiments. Richmann independently, but at the same time as Benjamin Franklin, came up with the invention of the lightning rod.

Richmann was electrocuted in St. Petersburg on 6 August 1753 trying to quantify the response of an insulated rod to a nearby storm. Richmann was apparently the first person in history to die while conducting electrical experiments.