Who actually invented the light bulb?

So, after Goebel, and a year before Edison "invented" his light bulb, Joseph Wilson Swan developed and patented a working light bulb. When it was clear Edison's "Fuck Swan" defense wouldn't hold up in court, he made Swan a partner, forming the Ediswan United Company and effectively buying Swan and his patent. read more

The incandescent light bulb first shone after years of work by many notable figures who contributed to the development of this revolutionary technology. Thomas Edison built on their successes and patented the first commercially successful light bulb. read more

No, it wasn’t Thomas Edison. Light bulbs were in use long before Edison applied for the patent in 1879. British inventor Humphry Davy invented an incandescent light bulb in 1801 and created the “arc lamp” in 1809. In 1835, Scottish inventor James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated a constant electric light in Dundee. In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue also demonstrated a light bulb. read more

In the late 1870s, Hiram Stevens Maxim – who later, in 1884, invented the first fully automatic machine gun – developed a light bulb and in 1880 installed the first electric lights in a New York City building (the Equitable Life Building at 120 Broadway). read more