809 - Humphry Davy, an English chemist, invented the first electric light.

Davy connected two wires to a battery and attached a charcoal strip betwween the other ends of the wires. The charged carbon glowed making the first arc lamp. 1820 - Warren De la Rue enclosed a platinum coil in an evacuated tube and passed an electric current through it. His lamp design was worked but the cost of the precious metal platinum made this an impossible invention for wide-spread use. 1835 - James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated constant electric lighting system using a prototype lightbulb. 1850 - Edward Shepard invented an electrical incandescent arc lamp using a charcoal filament. Joseph Wilson Swan started working with carbonized paper filaments the same year. 1854 - Henricg Globel, a German watchmaker, invented the first true lightbulb. He used a carbonized bamboo filament placed inside a glass bulb. 1875 - Herman Sprengel invented the mercury vacuum pump making it possible to develop a practical electric light bulb. Making a really good vacuum inside the bulb possible. 1875 - Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans patented a lightbulb. 1878 - Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914), an English physicist, was the first person to invent a practical and longer-lasting electic lightbulb (13.5 hours). Swan used a carbon fiber filament derived from cotton. 1879 - Thomas Alva Edison invented a carbon filament that burned for forty hours. Edison placed his filament in an oxygenless bulb. (Edison evolved his designs for the lightbulb based on the 1875 patent he purchased from inventors, Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans.) 1880 - Edison continued to improved his lightbulb until it could last for over 1200 hours using a bamboo-derived filament. 1903 - Willis Whitnew invented a filament that would not make the inside of a lightbulb turn dark. It was a metal-coated carbon filament (a predecessor to the tungsten filament). 1906 - The General Electric Company were the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandesent lightbulbs. The filaments were costly. 1910 - William David Coolidge (1873-1975) invented an improved method of makingtungsten filaments. The tungsten filament outlasted all other types of filaments and Coolidge made the costs practical. 1925 - The first frosted lightbulbs were produced. 1991 - Philips invented a lightbulb that lasts 60,000 hours. The bulb uses magnetic induction. Milestones: 1850 Joseph W. Swan began working on a light bulb using carbonized paper filaments 1860 Swan obtained a UK patent covering a partial vacuum, carbon filament incandescent lamp 1877 Edward Weston forms Weston Dynamo Machine Company, in Newark, New Jersey. 1878 Thomas Edison founded the Edison Electric Light Company 1878 Hiram Maxim founded the United States Electric Lighting Company 1878 205,144 William Sawyer and Albon Man 6/18 for Improvements in Electric Lamps 1878 Swan receives a UK patent for an improved incandescent lamp in a vacuum tube 1879 Swan began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. 1880 223,898 Thomas Edison 1/27 for Electric Lamp and Manufacturing Process

1880 230,309 Hiram Maxim 7/20 for Process of Manufacturing Carbon Conductors 1880 230,310 Hiram Maxim 7/20 for Electrical Lamp 1880 230,953 Hiram Maxim 7/20 for Electrical Lamp 1880 233,445 Joseph Swan 10/19 for Electric Lamp 1880 234,345 Joseph Swan 11/9 for Electric Lamp 1880 Weston Dynamo Machine Company renamed Weston Electric Lighting Company 1880 Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston form American Electric Company 1880 Charles F. Brush forms the Brush Electric Company 1881 Joseph W. Swan founded the Swan Electric Light Company 1881 237,198 Hiram Maxim 2/1 for Electrical Lamp assigned to U.S. Electric Lighting Company 1881 238,868 Thomas Edison 3/15 for Manufacture of Carbons for Incandescent Lamps 1881 247,097 Joseph Nichols and Lewis Latimer 9/13 for Electric Lamp 1881 251, 540 Thomas Edison 12/27 for Bamboo Carbons Filament for Incandescent Lamps 1882 252,386 Lewis Latimer 1/17 for Process of Manufacturing Carbons assigned to U.S. E. L. Co. 1882 Edison's UK operation merged with Swan to form the Edison & Swan United Co. or "Ediswan" 1882 Joesph Swan sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company 1883 American Electric Company renamed Thomson-Houston Electric Company 1884 Sawyer & Man Electric Co formed by Albon Man a year after William Edward Sawyer death 1886 George Westinghouse formed the Westinghouse Electric Company 1886 The National Carbon Co. was founded by the then Brush Electric Co. executive W. H. Lawrence 1888 United States Electric Lighting Co. was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company 1886 Sawyer & Man Electric Co. was purchased by Thomson-Houston Electric Company 1889 Brush Electric Company merged into the Thomson-Houston Electric Company 1889 Edison Electric Light Company consolidated and renamed Edison General Electric Company. 1890 Edison, Thomson-Houston, and Westinghouse, the "Big 3" of the American lighting industry. 1892 Edison Electric Light Co. and Thomson-Houston Electric Co. created General Electric Co. light bulb, electric lamp, incandescent lamp, electric globe, Thomas Edison, Joseph Swan, Hiram Maxim, Humphrey Davy, James Joule, George Westinghouse, Charles Brush, William Coolidge,invention, history, inventor of, history of, who invented, invention of, fascinating facts.

The Story: By the time of Edison's 1879 lamp invention, gas lighting was a mature, well-established industry. The gas infrastructure was in place, franchises had been granted, and manufacturing facilities for both gas and equipment were in profitable operation. Perhaps as important, people had grown accustomed to the idea of lighting with gas. Incandescent lamps make light by using electricity to heat a thin strip of material (called a filament) until it gets hot enough to glow. Many inventors had tried to perfect incandescent lamps to "sub-divide" electric light or make it smaller and weaker than it was in the existing electric arc

lamps, which were too bright to be used for small spaces such as the rooms of a house. Edison was neither the first nor the only person trying to invent an incandescent electric lamp. Many inventors had tried and failed some were discouraged and went on to invent other devices. Among those inventors who made a step forward in understanding the eclectic light were Sir Humphrey Davy,Warren De la Rue, James Bowman Lindsay, James Prescott Joule, Frederick de Moleyns and Heinrich Gbel. Between the years 1878 and 1892 the electric light industry was growing in terms of installed lights but shrinking in terms of company competition as both Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse determined to control the industry and its advancement. They even formed the Board of Patent Control, a joint arrangement between General Electric and the Westinghouse Company to defend the patents of the two companies in litigation. This proved to be a wise decision as over 600 lawsuits for patent infringement were filed. The easiest way to understand those turbulent times in the early lighting industry is to follow the company's involved. Of the hundreds of companies in the business, we only cover the major players. We show the flow of inventor's patents and inventor's companies and how the industry ended up monopolized by GE and Westinghouse. Company names listed in GREEN ultimately became part of General Electric. Company names listed in RED ultimately became part of Westinghouse. American Electric Company. In the late 1870's high school teachers Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston began experimenting with and patenting improvements on existing arc lamp and dynamo designs. In 1880 after being approached by a group of businessmen from New Britain CT, They all agreed to the formation of a company that would engage in the commercial manufacture of lighting systems (both arc and incandescent) based on their own patents. This was the American Electric Company which existed until 1883 when it was reorganized and was renamed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Brush Electric Company In 1880, Charles F. Brush forms the Brush Electric Company. That same year he installs the first complete eclectic arc-lighting system in Wabash, Indiana. Wabash was the first American city to be lit solely by electricity and to own its own municipal power plant (that small dynamo driven by a threshing machine engine). The installation in Cleveland the year before had been a demonstration, but Cleveland would soon begin lighting its streets with arc lamps as well. In 1876 Charles F. Brush invented a new type of simple, reliable, self-regulating arc lamp, as well as a new dynamo designed to power it. Earlier attempts at self regulation had often depended on complex clockwork mechanisms that, among other things, could not automatically re-strike an arc if there were an interruption in power. The simpler Brush design for a lamp/dynamo system made central station lighting a possibility for the first time. Joseph Swan sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company in June 1882. In 1889, Brush Electric Company merged into the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Edison Electric Light Company In the period from 1878 to 1880 Edison and his associates worked on at least three thousand

different theories to develop an efficient incandescent lamp. Edisons lamp would consist of a filament housed in a glass vacuum bulb. He had his own glass blowing shed where the fragile bulbs were carefully crafted for his experiments. Edison was trying to come up with a high resistance system that would require far less electrical power than was used for the arc lamps. This could eventually mean small electric lights suitable for home use. By January 1879, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Edison had built his first high resistance, incandescent electric light. It worked by passing electricity through a thin platinum filament in the glass vacuum bulb, which delayed the filament from melting. Still, the lamp only burned for a few short hours. In order to improve the bulb, Edison needed all the persistence he had learned years before in his basement laboratory. He tested thousands and thousands of other materials to use for the filament. He even thought about using tungsten, which is the metal used for light bulb filaments now, but he couldnt work with it given the tools available at that time. He tested the carbonized filaments of every plant imaginable, including bay wood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax, and bamboo. He even contacted biologists who sent him plant fibers from places in the tropics. Edison acknowledged that the work was tedious and very demanding, especially on his workers helping with the experiments. He always recognized the importance of hard work and determination. "Before I got through," he recalled, "I tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths, and ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material." Edison decided to try a carbonized cotton thread filament. When voltage was applied to the completed bulb, it began to radiate a soft orange glow. Just about fifteen hours later, the filament finally burned out. Further experimentation produced filaments that could burn longer and longer with each test. By the end of 1880, he had produced a 16-watt bulb that could last for 1500 hours and he began to market his new invention. In Britain, Swan took Edison to court for patent infringement. Edison lost and as part of the settlement, Edison was forced to take Swan in as a partner in his British electric works. The company was called the Edison and Swan United Electric Company (later known as Ediswan which was then incorporated into Thorn Lighting Ltd). Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan's interest in the company. Swan sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company in June 1882. In 1889 the Edison Electric Light Company merged with several other Edison companies to become the Edison General Electric Company. When the Edison General Electric Company merged with Thomson-Houston in 1892, a bitter struggle developed, Edison's name was dropped, and Edison himself had no more involvement with the newly formed General Eclectic Company beyond defending his patents. In 1903 Willis Whitnew invented a filament that would not blacken the inside of a light bulb. It was a metal-coated carbon filament. In 1906, the General Electric Company was the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandescent light bulbs. The filaments were costly, but by 1910 William David Coolidge had invented an improved method of making tungsten

filaments. The tungsten filament outlasted all other types of filaments and Coolidge made the costs practical. Edison & Swan United Electric Company In Britain, Joseph Swan took Edison to court for patent infringement. Edison lost and as part of the settlement, Edison was forced to take Swan in as a partner in his British electric works. The company was called the Edison and Swan United Electric Company (later known as Ediswan). Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan's interest in the company. General Electric Company In 1892, a merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company created General Electric Company. General Electric, GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today that was also included in the original index in 1896. Sawyer & Man Electric Company William Sawyer and Albon Man are issued Patent No, 205,144 on June 18, 1878 for Improvements in Electric Lamps. In 1884, Albon Man formed the Sawyer & Man Electric Co for the purpose of protecting the Sawyer-Man electric lamp patent. William Sawyer had died the previous year. In 1886, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company purchased the Sawyer & Man Electric Company and began making incandescent lamps under the Sawyer-Man patents. Swan Electric Light Company Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) was a physicist and chemist born in Sunderland, England. Swan was the first to construct an electric light bulb, but he had trouble maintaining a vacuum in his bulb. In 1850 he began working on a light bulb using carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860 he was able to demonstrate a working device, and obtained a UK patent covering a partial vacuum, carbon filament incandescent lamp. However, the lack of good vacuum and an adequate electric source resulted in a short lifetime for the bulb and an inefficient light. Fifteen years later, in 1875, Swan returned to consider the problem of the light bulb and, with the aid of a better vacuum and a carbonized thread as a filament. The most significant feature of Swan's lamp was that there was little residual oxygen in the vacuum tube to ignite the filament, thus allowing the filament to glow almost white-hot without catching fire. Swan received a British patent for his device in 1878 . Swan had reported success to the Newcastle Chemical Society and at a lecture in Newcastle in February 1879 he demonstrated a working lamp. Starting that year he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. In 1880, Swan gave the world's first large-scale public exhibition of electric lamps at Newcastle upon Tyne England. In 1881 he had started his own company, The Swan Electric Light Company, and started commercial production. Swan took Edison to court in Britain for patent infringement. Edison lost and as part of the settlement, Edison was forced to take Swan in as a partner in his British electric works. The company was called the Edison and Swan United Electric Company (later known as Ediswan). Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan's interest in the company. Also in 1882 Joseph Swan sold

his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company, a successful "arc" street light manufacture. Thomson-Houston Electric Company In the late 1870's high school teachers Elihu Thomson, a teacher of physics and chemistry, and Edwin Houston, a science teacher, began experimenting with and patenting improvements on existing arc lamp and dynamo designs. In 1880 after being approached by a group of businessmen from New Britain CT, Thomson & Houston agreed to the formation of a company that would engage in the commercial manufacture of lighting systems (both arc and incandescent) based on their own patents. This was the American Electric Company which existed until 1883 when it was reorganized and was renamed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. . The company became quite successful and diversified into other electrical markets. In 1886 they purchased the Sawyer & Man Electric Co. and began making incandescent lamps under the Sawyer-Man patents. In 1889 in an attempt to avoid patent disputes over a double-carbon arc lamp design, Thomson-Houston negotiated the purchase of a controlling interest in the Brush company. The Swan Incandescent Light Company was part of the Brush plant so it was included in the takeover. In 1892 Thomson-Houston merged with the Edison companies to form the giant General Electric Company. United States Electric Lighting Company Founded in 1878 by the prolific inventor Hiram Maxim, the United States Electric Lighting soon established itself as Thomas Edison's chief rival in the field of incandescent lighting. The company made some of the earliest installations of this new technology using Maxim's patent on a carbonfilament lamp, which was similar to that invented by Edison in 1879. When Maxim left USEL in 1881 to pursue other lines of invention, the company purchased the Weston Electric Lighting Company in Newark, NJ, and the services of its founder Edward Weston. The inventor of a successful "arc" lighting system, Weston, as works manager and chief designer of USEL, developed a comprehensive arc and incandescent system which the USEL began to market in 1882. In January 1882, Lewis Latimer, an employee of USEL, received a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons," an improved method for the production of light bulb filaments which yielded longer lasting bulbs than Edison's technique. In 1888, United States Electric Lighting Co. was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company. Westinghouse Electric Company In 1886, George Westinghouse formed the Westinghouse Electric Company. The main function of the Electric & Manufacturing Company was to develop and produce "apparatus for the generation, transmission and application of alternating current electricity." The company also produced electric railway motors, producing approximately 75,000 by 1905. Weston Electric Lighting Company Founded in New Jersey by Edward Weston in 1880, the company's innovations included the Weston standard cell, the first accurate portable voltmeters and ammeters, the first portable light meter, and many other electrical developments. In 1881, the United States Electric Lighting Company purchased the Weston Electric Lighting Company, and the services of its founder

Edward Weston. The inventor of a successful "arc" lighting system, Weston, as works manager and chief designer of USEL, developed a comprehensive arc and incandescent system which the USEL began to market in 1882. Woodward and Evans Light On July 24, 1874 a Canadian patent was filed for the Woodward and Evans Light by a Toronto medical electrician named Henry Woodward and a colleague Mathew Evans, who was described in the patent as a "Gentleman" but in reality a hotel keeper. They built their lamp with a shaped rod of carbon held between electrodes in a glass globe filled with nitrogen. Woodward and Evans found it impossible to raise financial support for the development of their invention and in 1875 Woodward sold a share of their Canadian patent to Thomas Edison. The Edison Vision The economic effect of electric lighting went far beyond increasing the workday. Profits generated by the electric lamp, in effect, paid for a network of generators and wires. This infrastructure then became available for a whole new class of inventions: appliances and equipment that by the 1930s had transformed the home and the workplace. Edison didn't just invent a light bulb, either. He put together what he knew about electricity with what he knew about gas lights and invented a whole system of electric lighting. This meant light bulbs, electricity generators, wires to get the electricity from the power station to the homes, fixtures (lamps, sockets, switches) for the light bulbs, and more. It was like a big jigsaw puzzle-and Edison made up the pieces as well as fitted them together. He did it his way. The first electric light was made in 1809 by Humphry Davy, an English scientist. He experimented with electricity and when he connected wires and a piece of carbon to a battery, the carbon glowed, producing light. In 1875 Herman Sprengel invented the mercury vacuum pump making it possible to develop a practical electric light bulb by making a really good vacuum inside the bulb possible. In 1878 Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, an English physicist, was the first person to invent a practical and longer-lasting electric light bulb (13.5 hours). Swan used a carbon fiber filament derived from cotton. Many others contributed to the development of the light bulb during the years. It Is clear that Tomas Alva Edison could not be credited with the invention of the electric light bulb (incandescent lamp). Nevertheless, his contribution to the perfection of this device is really impressing. Until 1878 when Edison decided to throw the bulk of his attention and resources into the perfection of the light bulb the best source of lighting was gas. Unfortunately it was far from convenient. It was dirty, unhealthy, uncomfortable and dangerous. When gas burned it created soot everywhere. It degraded the air quality by emitting soot and depleting

oxygen. During the summer it made the air even hotter and more uncomfortable. It caused explosions, fires and its care could not be trusted to children. But the major deficit of gas was that it could not serve as a source of power. The appliances we take for granted today - fans, refrigerators, electric irons and computers - could not be powered by gas, at least not in a convenient way. On the other hand, light bulbs existing prior to Edisons efforts burned for a short time the best achievement was Swans, 13.5 hours, though a great breakthrough, not commercially yet. Thomas Alva Edison, a prolific inventor, and his team (yes, he did not work alone!) experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879 Edison obtained an improved Sprengel vacuum pump, and it proved to be the catalyst for a breakthrough. Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed for 40 hours. Soon, by changing the shape of the filament to a horseshoe it burned for over 100 hours and later, by additional improvements, it lasted for 1500 hours. Edison and his colleagues had invented a practical light bulb and by doing so they opened up the way for the establishment of the electrical power system. It was this power system that became Edison's real achievement. It beget a huge new industry that would radically effect everyone. By September of 1882 he had opened a central station on Pearl Street in Manhattan and was eventually supplying electricity to a one mile square section of New York. Its important to mention that Edison's method for generating and transmitting electricity employed direct current (DC) whereas modern power stations employ alternating current (AC ) introduced by George Westinghouse based on Nikola Tesla, and others, patents. Nevertheless, this and other obstacles, Edisons power station is regarded by many as the first practical power station ever because the Pearl Street station provided reliable central power generation, safe and efficient distribution, and a successful end use - Edisons long-lasting incandescent light bulb - at a price that competed successfully with gas lighting. The very first electric light was invented as early as 1800 by English inventor, Humphry Davy. Through various experimentations with electricity, he invented a basic electric battery, soon followed by electric light once he realised that carbon glowed, producing light when connected to the battery. This reaction is called an electric arc. In 1860, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan set about attempting to develop a practical, long-lasting form of electric light. It was he who realised that carbon paper filament worked well, however did burn up relatively quickly. In 1878, his new lamp inventions were showcased in Newcastle, England.

1877 saw American Charles Francis Brush develop a series of carbon arcs in order to illuminate a public square in Ohio, USA. A few streets, some large office buildings and some stores all utilised electric lights, but the extent of usage was not at all common. Typically credited as the 'inventor of the light bulb', Thomas Alva Edisonexperimented with thousands upon thousands of alternative filaments to find the best material for a long-lasting, high glow solution. 1879 was the year Edison finally realised that a carbon filament within an oxygen-free bulb glowed, but would not burn up for approximately 40 hours. Later, Edison invented a bulb that would not expire for over 1500 hours. Lewis Howard Latimer improved upon Edison's bulb with a new carbon filament which he patented in 1881. Latimer was part of Edison's research team, termed "Edison's Pioneers", and in 1882 began to manufacture and distribute his own carbon filaments. At the turn of the century, in 1903, Willis R. Whitney introduced a 'fix' to the light bulb, so that the inside of the bulb would not darken as the filament began to glow, thus producing more vivid and bright light. William David Coolidge then invented a tungsten version of the traditional filament, which lasted longer than any other filament. This incandescent light bulb revolutionised the way in which we live today. Thomas Edison's greatest challenge was the development of a practical incandescent, electric light. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't "invent" the lightbulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. In 1879, using lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light. The idea of electric lighting was not new, and a number of people had worked on, and even developed forms of electric lighting. But up to that time, nothing had been developed that was remotely practical for home use. Edison's eventual achievement was inventing not just an incandescent electric light, but also an electric lighting system that contained all the elements necessary to make the incandescent light practical, safe, and economical. After one and a half years of work, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread burned for thirteen and a half hours. There are a couple of other interesting things about the invention of the light bulb: While most of the attention was on the discovery of the right kind of filament that would work, Edison actually had to invent a total of seven system elements that were critical to the practical application of electric lights as an alternative to the gas lights that were prevalent in that day. These were the development of: 1. the parallel circuit, 2. a durable light bulb, 3. an improved dynamo,

4. the underground conductor network, 5. the devices for maintaining constant voltage, 6. safety fuses and insulating materials, and 7. light sockets with on-off switches. Before Edison could make his millions, every one of these elements had to be invented and then, through careful trial and error, developed into practical, reproducible components. The first public demonstration of the Thomas Edison's incandescent lighting system was in December 1879, when the Menlo Park laboratory complex was electrically lighted. Edison spent the next several years creating the electric industry. The modern electric utility industry began in the 1880s. It evolved from gas and electric carbon-arc commercial and street lighting systems. On September 4, 1882, the first commercial power station, located on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan, went into operation providing light and electricity power to customers in a one square mile area; the electric age had begun. Thomas Edison's Pearl Street electricity generating station introduced four key elements of a modern electric utility system. It featured reliable central generation, efficient distribution, a successful end use (in 1882, the light bulb), and a competitive price. A model of efficiency for its time, Pearl Street used one-third the fuel of its predecessors, burning about 10 pounds of coal per kilowatt hour, a "heat rate" equivalent of about 138,000 Btu per kilowatt hour. Initially the Pearl Street utility served 59 customers for about 24 cents per kilowatt hour. In the late 1880s, power demand for electric motors brought the industry from mainly nighttime lighting to 24-hour service and dramatically raised electricity demand for transportation and industry needs. By the end of the 1880s, small central stations dotted many U.S. cities; each was limited to a few blocks area because of transmission inefficiencies of direct current (dc). The success of his electric light brought Thomas Edison to new heights of fame and wealth, as electricity spread around the world. His various electric companies continued to grow until in 1889 they were brought together to form Edison General Electric. Despite the use of Edison in the company title however, he never controlled this company. The tremendous amount of capital needed to develop the incandescent lighting industry had necessitated the involvement of investment bankers such as J.P. Morgan. When Edison General Electric merged with its leading competitor Thompson-Houston in 1892, Edison was dropped from the name, and the company became simply General Electric.