humphrey davy-general electric company

september 4, 1882

Edison switched on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 volts of direct current to 39 customers in lower Manhattan around his Pearl Street laboratory. Edison helped to form the Edison General Electric Company

october 21, 1879

Thomas Edison developed an improved incandescent light bulb with a filament made of a piece of thread dipped in liquid carbon. Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an almost oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for 13 hours. edison eventually produced a bulb that could glow for 1500 hours. Edison therefore made the first practical incandescent light bulb. his workshop was located in Menlo Park, New Jersey

Sir Humphrey Davy

in 1800, the first electric light was made by this english scientist. he experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. when he connected wires to his battery, and a piece of carbon, the carbon glode, producing light. this is called an electric arc or an arc lamp

Sir Joseph Wilson Swan

in 1860, this English scientist and inventor produced the first incandescent light bulb using carbonized paper. he was determined to devise a practical long-lasting electric light. his first light did not provide a significant amount of illumination and did not last very long. the vacuum of his light bulb wasn't good enough and it lacked enough oxygen in the vacuum to ignite the filament, thus allowing the filament to glow almost white hot without catching fire

arc lamp

is the very first form of practical lighting produced by electricity, and was virtually an open flame. it operates by positioning 2 pointed carbon rods opposite one another, each connected to a different pole of the power supply. the tips are then brought into contact so that the electricity flows through them causing the trips to heat up slightly. they are then pulled apart very slowly and a spark, or arc, of electricity leaps the gap, causing the temperature of the tips to rise further

the wizard of menlo park

nickname for Thomas Edison

limitations of arc lamps

the carbon rods rust the light created is dim they were very expensive