Who Invented the Light Bulb? If there is an invention that changed the life of human beings, that is the light bulb, because what would become of us if we did not have light when we got home? But of course, it has not always been as easy as it is for us, to press a switch and make the light come on.

The form of energy known as electricity has a very ancient origin. In the 17th century, Gueriche produced an electric spark thanks to a rotating sulfur balloon.

The first to use this energy was Alexander Volta, an Italian whom Napoleon commissioned in 1801, to demonstrate his battery, the first continuous source of electrical energy in history.

When Was Invented the Light Bulb?

Twenty years later, the British Faraday started the electric motor. He also invented an electricity generator and a transformer to be able to modify the voltage.

Even so, there are many people who believe that the only inventor of the light bulb was Thomas Edison, but the truth is that what he achieved was to perfect what Joseph Swan had invented previously, making it work more effectively and much longer.

  • On the other hand, the truth is that Edison was the one who patented the electric bulb in January 1880, something that Swam did not do.
  • Swan intended to transform electricity into light with an instrument that could improve the results of the electric arc lamp that already existed and that Humphrey Davy invented in 1811.

It tested in different ways but only managed to make the life of this light bulb very ephemeral, lasting just two hundred hours, in addition to offering a rather poor performance, since it gave little light, flickering, and decreasing in intensity.

Light Bulb Evolution

The main problem that the inventors of the light bulb encountered was how to prevent the filaments of the light bulb from melting due to heat.

For years it was tried with different types but the expected results were not achieved.

  • For example, in 1905 metallic charcoal was used that resisted high temperatures and provided an acceptable light. But the life of the bulb was very short and its performance very low.
  • The solution was found with the metallic filaments, first with that of osmium and then with that of tantalum.

As a curiosity, you will be interested to know that there is a light bulb that has been on for more than 100 years, has been working continuously since 1901, and is located in the United States, in a fire station in California.

The Light Bulb In Spain

The light bulbs came to Spain in 1881 when Dalmay created an electricity company in Barcelona that was dedicated to manufacturing them.

  • That same year, several lamps were installed on the Paseo de Colón in this city and a lighting test was carried out at the Puerta de Sol in Madrid.
  • It was in 1987 when the French Fritsch solved the problem of changing the bulbs without getting burned by creating the magnetic bulb.
  • For this, he created the M-Lux bulb that could be inserted with one hand into the socket and thanks to a magnet, without the need to screw.

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With this idea, he won the “Geneva International Inventors’ Show” award.