When was the first light bulb made?

Answer 1

No single person made the electric light bulb. So that means there is no one answer for when it was made. You can pick any date from 1800 for a rudimentary bulb, to 1910 for a much more practical bulb of the sort that is now being phased out for fluorescent and LED technologies.

The first electric bulb seems to have been invented in 1800 by an English scientist named Humprey Davy. He invented a type of battery. When he connected the wires from his battery to a piece of carbon, it glowed.

In 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan(1828-1914) set out to create a long-lasting and practical electric light. He used carbon paper and discovered that it worked well as a filament. However, it didn't last too long.

Charles Francis Brush manufactured some carbon arc lamps to light public areas in Cleveland, Ohio, USA around 1877. These were used for lighting a square, a few streets, a few large office buildings, and a few stores. Very few people used electric lights.

Eventually, in 1879, Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor, made an incandescent light bulb that lasted over 1500 hours. He experimented using many different materials for just the right filament. He used a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb, and it lasted only 40 hours, but he eventually increased its lifespan.

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928) was a member of Edison's research team. He improved the bulb by inventing a special carbon filament which he patented in 1881. In 1882, Latimer developed and patented a way to manufacture his carbon filaments.

In 1903, Willis R. Whitney invented a way of treating the filament so it would not darken the inside of the bulb as it was used.

In 1910, William David Coolidge (1873-1975) invented a tungsten filament. This lasted even longer than the previous filaments, making the light bulb much more practical.