[View the story " 5 things you thought you knew about lightning" on Storify ] 5 things you thought you knew about lightning Storified by CMGNationalNews · Wed, Jun 10 2015 15:37:41
1. Benjamin Franklin
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The famed founding father flew a kite in a thunderstorm and collected the charge in a jar to show the electric power of lightning June 10, 1752,
according to History.com. His interest in electricity started in the 1740s. Battery, conductor and electrician are words Franklin coined and still in use today.
2. Most Lightning strikes
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The home of the Tampa Bay Lightning is also home as the lightning capital of the country. More than 50,000 cloud-to-ground flashes were observed within a 50 mile radius of Tampa Bay in 1994, giving the area in Florida the moniker,
according to the Tampa Bay Times. The state averages about 10 deaths and 30 injuries a year.
3. Lightning CAN strike twice
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While the majority of lightning bolts never leave the clouds, there are about 100 cloud-to-ground strikes every second,
according to National Geographic. And the sound of thunder is caused by the lightning creating resonating tubes with contracting air which vibrates and becomes the sound of thunder.
4. Astraphobia
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Fear of lightning, is considered the third most popular fear, (behind insects and heights) in the United States. However, an actual strike to humans is rare with odds about 1 in 12,000. Although about 2,000 people are killed worldwide by lightning each year, many other strike victims survive with lasting symptoms including memory loss, dizziness and numbness.
5. Does lightning really generate 1.21 ‘gigawatts’ of power?
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Most lightning is actually more powerful than the fictional power measurement in the movie Back to the Future. The power of a bolt of lightning depends on many factors including its size and period of time of strike. Most can generate millions of volts of electricity. They also are very hot. A typical lightning strike can generate heat up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. When a bolt hits a tree just right, it can boil the sap inside it causing the tree to steam up and explode.