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@ladyprowess · 04 Dec 2021

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When was the light bulb invented?

Thomas Edison has always been the on receiving credits as the man who invented the light bulb. It is pertinent to note that the famous American inventor wasn't the only one who contributed to the development of this revolutionary technology. There are many other notable inventors, engineers and scientists from around the world are also credited for their work with electric batteries, lamps and the creation of the first incandescent bulbs.

While the names Alessandro Volta, Humphrey Davy or Joseph Swan may not be the first to spring to mind when wondering who invented the light bulb, their part in history of the technology is no less significant. So, keep reading below as we shed a little light on the real history of who invented light bulb.

The story of the lightbulb begins long before Edison patented the first commercially successful bulb in 1879.

In 1800, Italian inventor Alessandro Volta developed the first practical method of generating electricity, the voltaic pile. Made of alternating discs of zinc and copper interspersed with layers of cardboards soaked in salt water. The pile conducted electricity when a copper wire was connected at either end. While actually a predecessor of the modern battery, Volta's glowing copper wire is also considered to be one of the earliest manifestations of incandescent lighting.

According to Harold H Schobert ("Energy and Society: An Introduction," CRC Press, 2014) the Voltaic Pile "made it possible for scientists to experiment with electric currents under controlled conditions" and furthered experiments with electricity. Not long after Volta presented his discovery of a continuous source of electricity to the Royal Society in London, Davy produced the world's first electric lamp by connecting voltaic piles to charcoal electrodes.

In 1850, English chemist Joseph Swan tackled the cost-effectiveness problem of previous inventors and by 1860 he had developed a light bulb that used carbonized paper filaments in place of those made of platinum, according to the BBC. Swan received a patent in the UK in 1878, and in February 1879 he demonstrated a working lamp in a lecture in Newcastle, England, according to the Smithsonian Institution.

Like earlier renditions of the light bulb, Swan's filaments were placed in a vacuum tube to minimize their exposure to oxygen, extending their lifespan.

Unfortunately for Swan, the vacuum pumps of his day were not efficient as they are now, and while his prototype worked well for a demonstration, it was impractical in actual use.

Edison realized that the problem with Swan's design was the filament. A thin filament with high electrical resistance would make a lamp practical because it would require only a little current to make it glow. He demonstrated his light bulb in December 1879. Swan incorporated the improvement into his light bulbs and founded an electrical lighting company in England.

Edison sued for patent infringement, but Swan's patent was a strong claim, at least in the UK, according to CIO. The two inventors eventually joined forces and formed Edison-Swan United, which became one of the world’s largest manufacturers of light bulbs, according to the Science Museum Group.

Swan wasn't the only competitor Edison faced. In 1874, Canadian inventors Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans filed a patent for an electric lamp with different-sized carbon rods held between electrodes in a glass cylinder filled with nitrogen. The pair tried, unsuccessfully, to commercialize their lamps but eventually sold their patent to Edison in 1879, according to the World History Project.

The success of Edison's light bulb was followed by the founding of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York in 1880, according to EDN News.

The company was started with financial contributions from J.P. Morgan and other wealthy investors of the time. The company constructed the first electrical generating stations that would power electrical system and newly patented bulbs. The first generating station was opened in September 1882 on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan, according to the Edison Tech Center.

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