The Lightbulb
The Thing That Brightened up America
Who?
Thomas Alva Edison, with the first successful trial on the the light bulb taking place on October 22, 1879.
Why?
Many Inventions were invented by accident, or while trying to invent something else. The light bulb was not one of these. Many scientists of the day were trying to invent a way to use electricity to light there house. The reason is that the old style of lighting, candles, lamps, lanterns, were all very dangerous. Many fires back then were stated by these. And they put out smoke into the room and burned up the oxygen, making it harder to breath.
Where?
Thomas Edison and his team invented the light bulb in his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
How it works
Edison's light bulb used a carbonized piece of bamboo as a filament, whereas most of his peer's models used a piece of metal wire, and innovation which gave his bulbs a life expectancy of over one thousand hours. However, a filament and electrical current alone are not sufficient to make a light bulb. If enough oxygen is present inside the glass, the heat produced in the filament would quickly cause it to catch fire. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to create a vacuum inside the bulb itself.
How it affected America
Because of Edison's work people were able to invent the flashlight which is very handy when you are some where and there is no electricity. The microwave oven, heat lamps, headlights, traffic lights, and microwaves could only be invented because of Edison's work with the light bulb.