Invented by Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) around 1750, the lightning rod is designed to provide lightning bolts with a safe path to ground the electricity so that it does not damage a building. Lightning rods have actually become a bit more important to have on a home or other building in recent years, because the metal pipes that used to be installed for indoor plumbing and that could serve as lightning rods are being replaced by nonconductive PVC pipes.