Who invented the incandescent light bulb?

Incandescent Bulbs Light the Way. Long before Thomas Edison patented -- first in 1879 and then a year later in 1880 -- and began commercializing his incandescent light bulb, British inventors were demonstrating that electric light was possible with the arc lamp. read more

An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated to such a high temperature that it glows with visible light (incandescence). The filament is protected from oxidation with a glass or fused quartz bulb that is filled with inert gas or a vacuum. 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

*Traditional incandescent light bulbs are not useful for lighting large areas. It takes many to light a large area where as only one HID lamp can light a large open area. Halogen incandescent is useful for this purpose but it is not covered on this page. read more