Though Thomas Alva Edison might be credited with developing the first incandescent light that was economically viable, the electric light, one of the everyday comforts that most significantly impacts our lives, was not "invented" in the classic sense until 1879. He wasn't the first or the only person to attempt to develop an incandescent light bulb. In reality, according to some historians, the incandescent light was created before Thomas Edison's invention by over 20 people. Nevertheless, Edison is frequently given credit for the invention since his version was able to outperform the other models because to a combination of three factors: more efficient incandescent substance, a higher vacuum than others were able to create, and a high resistance that made electricity more expensive distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

Early-Rise Lighting system 

The first electric light was created by Humphry Davy in 1802. Through electrical experimentation, he created an electric battery. He attached cables to his battery and a piece of carbon, and the carbon began to glow and emit light. The Electric Arc lamp is his most famous creation. Even though it produced light, it was extremely bright and didn't last very long for practical usage.

Other innovators also produced "light bulbs" over the following seven decades, but no commercially viable designs were developed. More significantly, a platinum filament was contained in a vacuum tube and an electric current was run through it in 1840 by British scientist Warren de la Rue. The idea behind the design was that platinum's high melting point would enable it to function at high temperatures and that an evacuated chamber would have fewer gas molecules than a non-evacuated one, extending the life of the platinum. Despite being an effective concept, commercial production was impossible due to the price of the platinum.

A "light bulb" was first made in 1850 by an English physicist by the name of Joseph Wilson Swan by encapsulating carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. And by 1860, he had a functional prototype. However, the lack of a suitable vacuum and a sufficient supply of electricity led to a bulb that had a lifespan that was far too brief to be regarded as an efficient producer of light. Swan maintained his studies on light bulbs, nevertheless, as improved vacuum pumps became available in the 1870s. Swan created a longer-lasting lightbulb in 1878 using a cotton thread treated to prevent early bulb blackening.

Henry Woodward, a medical electrician from Toronto, and Mathew Evans, a coworker, submitted a Canadian patent on July 24, 1874. Different sized and shaped carbon rods held between electrodes in glass cylinders filled with nitrogen were used to construct their lamps. Woodward and Evans made an effort to sell their lamp, but they were unsuccessful. Eventually, in 1879, they sold Edison their patent.

The "first" light bulb according to Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison started working diligently in 1878 to create a workable incandescent lamp, and on October 14, 1878, Edison submitted his first patent application for "Improvement In Electric Lights". To improve upon his initial idea, he continued to test other sorts of material for metal filaments, and on November 4, 1879, he filed another patent he filed another U.S. patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires."

Even though the patent listed several methods for producing the carbon filament, including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways," Edison and his team did not learn that a carbonized bamboo filament could last for more than 1200 hours until a few months after the patent was granted.

The first commercially produced light bulbs were produced as a result of this discovery, and Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Light Company started marketing its new product in 1880.

Light Bulb 

Other Significant Dates

1906 saw the first patent for a process to create tungsten filaments for incandescent lightbulbs go to The General Electric Company. Tungsten would eventually prove to be the greatest material for incandescent light bulb filaments, but in Edison's day, the equipment wasn't yet available the machinery needed to produce the wire in such a fine form was not available.

To produce tungsten filaments that would last the longest, William David Coolidge of General Electric refined the manufacturing method in 1910.

The first frosted lightbulb, as well as adjustable power beam bulbs for automobile headlamps and neon illumination, was manufactured in the 1920s.

1930s - The fluorescent tanning light and tiny one-time flashbulbs for photography were both created in the 1930s.

First'soft light' incandescent bulbs appeared in the 1940s.

1950s - Manufacturing of quartz glass and halogen bulbs

New low-wattage metal halides are developed in the 1980s.

Long-lasting and compact fluorescent lights first appear in the 1990s.

The "First" Light Bulb's Future: What's Next To Tech Part?

Less than 10% of the electrical power provided to modern incandescent bulbs is turned into visible light, making them inefficient energy consumers.

The remaining energy is lost as heat. However these inefficient light bulbs are still widely used today due to many advantages such as:

wide, affordable availability 

simple integration into electrical systems, suitable for low voltage operation of small systems, such as in battery-operated devices

available in a variety of shapes and sizes

Unfortunately for incandescent bulbs, legislation in several nations, including the US, has mandated their phase-out in favor of more energy-efficient alternatives such compact fluorescent lights and LED lamps. But because incandescent bulbs are inexpensive, provide light instantly, and raise concerns about mercury contamination in CFLs, there has been much opposition to these laws.

However, with LED costs fast declining, the LED does appear to be the technology of the future. At Bulbs.com, we carry an expanding selection of LED fixtures and bulbs.