"Leyden jar" is the name by which the first capacitor was known, named after the city in Holland where it was invented. Its accidental discovery by Dutch professor Pieter van Musschenbroek is a fascinating story of scientific serendipity.
In this article, we will see how you can easily make a Leyden jar using materials lying around in the kitchen. One good enough to give shocks and produce visible sparks.
Keep the Leyden jar on the ground. Rub a PVC pipe on wool and pass it lengthwise near the fork. In dry weather, you can hear the crackling sound of electric charge getting transferred from the PVC pipe to the Leyden jar through the fork. Repeat this 10-15 times to sufficiently charge the Leyden jar.
If you now touch the fork, you will receive a moderate electric shock. Strong enough to make you jump in surprise if it is the first time, but completely safe! To see sparks without having to subject yourself to the inconvenience of the shock, you can use a steel spoon to touch the fork, with one end of the spoon touching the ground.