Who Invented the Light Bulb?

A Light bulb is considered as one of the scientific marvels that glowed for the first time in 1879 and are progressively illuminating the world since then. The light bulb has now become a durable and economical source of lighting resulting from numerous structural and technological transformations. Although Thomas Alva Edison successfully created the first incandescent light bulb, he was not the only one who attempted its invention.

History of the Light Bulb

Historians reported there were more than 20 inventors of light bulbs before Thomas Edison. But Edison’s version outperformed the others due to a combination of effective incandescent material, higher vacuum, and high resistance that enable him to achieve economic viability in power distribution.

Humphry Davy invented the first electric light in the year 1802 and experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. At that time he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed and it produced light. It was known as the Electric Arc lamp.

James B. Lindsey demonstrated at a public meeting that he could read a book one and a half feet away from a constant electric light in Scotland in 1835.

In the year 1838, Marcellin Jobard from Belgium designed the brilliant bulb with a vacuum air utilizing carbon fiber.

In the year 1840, British researcher Warren de la Rue tested by passing an electric ebb and flow through a snaked platinum fiber encased in a vacuum tube. The plan was essentially founded on the idea that the high dissolving purpose of platinum would permit it to work at high temperatures and that the emptied chamber would contain less gas atoms to respond with platinum, improving its life span. In spite of the fact that it was viewed as a proficient plan, the expense of platinum made it unfeasible for business creation.

In 1841, British inventor Frederick de Moleyns invented an incandescent lamp using platinum wires contained in the vacuum bulb. In 1845, American inventor John W. Starr patented incandescent bulbs made using carbon filament.

In the year 1850, an English physicist named Joseph Wilson Swan made a “light” by encasing carbonized paper fibers in a cleared glass bulb and the year 1860 he had a working model, yet the deficiency of a superior vacuum and a sufficient flexibly of power brought about the bulb whose life was too short to ever be viewed as a compelling producer of light.  However, in the year 1870 improved vacuum pumps became available and Swan continued his experiments on light bulbs. In the year 1878, Swan came up with a longer-lasting light bulb using a treated cotton thread that overcame the problem of early bulb blackening.

Russian inventor Alexander Lodygin invented and patented the incandescent bulb in 1872 using two carbon rods in a glass receiver filled with nitrogen and electrically arranged so that the current can pass to the second carbon when the first had been consumed.

In the year 1874, Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans were granted a patent for a lamp invented using carbon rods contained in the glass bulb filled with nitrogen gas. However, they failed in commercializing the light bulb and sold the patent rights to Thomas Alva Edison in 1879.

Who Invented the First Light Bulb

Thomas Edison in the year 1878 focused on developing a practical incandescent lamp. On 14^th October 1878, he recorded his first patent application for “Improvement In Electric Lights”. In any case, he explored different avenues regarding a few components for metal fibers to upgrade his unique structure and he recorded another U.S. patent on 4^th November 1879 for an electric lamp by connecting a carbon filament to platina contact wires.

Despite the fact that the patent portrayed numerous methods of creating the carbon fiber which included utilizing cotton and material string, wood supports or papers wound in a few different ways. But several months after the patent was granted, Thomas Edison and his team discovered that carbonized bamboo filament has longevity over 1200 hours.

This discovery was considered as the beginning of commercial manufacture of incandescent light bulbs and in the year 1880, Thomas Edison’s company named Edison Electric Light Company began to market its new product.

Timeline and Evolution

• 1904 – Hungarian company Tungsram began marketing in European countries a tungsten filament bulb filled with inert gas which enhanced the luminous efficacy and reduced filament evaporation. This invention was patented by Sandor Just and Franjo Hanaman.
• 1906 – William Coolidge developed “ductile tungsten” from sintered tungsten for making filaments.
• 1911 – General Electric Company started marketing first incandescent bulbs made of ductile tungsten.
• 1917 – A coiled-coil filament was developed and patented by Burnie Benbow.
• 1921 – The first double coiled bulb was invented by Junichi Miura.
• 1925 – The first frosted light bulb was invented and patented by Marvin Pipkin that contained a silica-coated layer on the inside.
• 1930 – Hungarian physicist Imre Bródy invented the krypton filled fluorescent bulbs.
• 1959 – General Electric Company introduced the Halogen light bulb with soft white light.
• 1991 – Dutch company Philips developed compact fluorescent bulbs that can last up to 60,000 hours.