Short answers, pulled from the story.
Benjamin Franklin first used the term "battery" in 1749 while experimenting with a set of linked Leyden jar capacitors. He borrowed the military word for weapons working together to describe his grouped jars.
Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. It stacked copper and zinc plates separated by brine-soaked paper disks and produced a steady current for a considerable length of time.
Primary batteries are used until exhausted then discarded, because their chemical reactions are generally not reversible. Secondary batteries can be recharged by applying an electric current that reverses the discharge reactions and regenerates the original reactants.
The Daniell cell, invented in 1836 by British chemist John Frederic Daniell, was the first practical source of electricity. It became an industry standard and powered electrical telegraph networks, using a copper pot of copper sulfate solution holding an earthenware container of sulfuric acid and a zinc electrode.
Batteries may be harmful or fatal if swallowed, especially small button cells swallowed by young children. The battery's electrical discharge can generate sodium hydroxide and cause tissue damage, most often lodging in the esophagus, with perforation seen as rapidly as 6 hours after ingestion.
Battery demand grew by 30% annually between 2010 and 2018, reaching 180 GWh in 2018. At an estimated 25% growth rate, demand is expected to reach 2600 GWh by 2030, or as much as 3562 GWh with cost reductions.