The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879, right? Many people know about this and teach it in school. However, there is more to this important and much-needed item than just the name of its creator, Mr. Edison. The history of the light bulb actually began nearly 70 years earlier. In 1806, Humphry Davy, an Englishman, demonstrated a powerful electric lamp to the royal society. The Davy lamp produced illumination by creating blinding electrical sparks between two carbon rods. This device, known as the "arc lamp", was impractical for widespread use. The light, as if from a welding torch, was too bright for use in living and working areas. The device also required a huge power source and battery, which Davy's model quickly used up.

As time went on, electrical generators were invented that could feed electric arcs. This has found its application where a bright source of light was simply necessary: ​​in lighthouses and in public institutions. Later, arc lamps were used in war, because powerful searchlights could track enemy aircraft. Today you can see similar lighting near cinemas or at the opening of new stores.

1. Who invented the incandescent light bulb?

Inventors in the 19th century wanted to find a way to use the lamp both at home and at work. Was absolutely necessary new method creating electric light. This method of generating light is known as "filament".

Scientists knew that if you take some materials and run enough electricity through them, they will heat up. At a certain heating temperature, they begin to glow. The problem with this method was that with prolonged use, the material could burst into flames or melt. If the incandescent lamp were made more practical, these two problems would be solved.

The inventors realized that the only way to keep them from burning was to prevent them from coming into contact with oxygen. Oxygen is a necessary ingredient in the combustion process. Since oxygen is present in the atmosphere, the only way to avoid a fire was to enclose the burner in a glass container, or "lamp". That is to limit contact with air. In 1841, British inventor Frederick de Molains patented a lamp using this technique in combination with platinum filament and carbon. The American John Starr also received a patent in 1845 for a lamp using a vacuum combined with a carbon burner. Many others, including the English chemist Joseph Swan, improved and patented versions of vacuum lamps with burners made of different materials and various forms. However, none had practical application for everyday use. Swan's lamp, for example, used carbon paper, which quickly crumbled after burning.

2. Who invented the light bulb Edison or Yablochkov?

It was obvious that incandescent lamps would bring huge financial success if they were improved. Therefore, many inventors continued to work on finding a solution. Young and brash inventor Thomas Edison entered the race in 1878 to create the best lamp. Edison was already known in the world for the creation of the telephone transmitter and the phonograph. In October of that year, having been working on the project for several months, he declared in the newspapers: "I solved the problem of electric light!" This sweeping statement was enough to drive down the stocks of the gas companies whose lamps provided the lighting of the day.

As it turned out, Edison's announcement was premature. He only had an idea how to solve the problems of electric incandescent lamps. Edison thought he would solve the problem by building a temperature-sensitive switch in the lamp that would turn off when too high temperature. It was a good idea, but unfortunately it didn't work. To keep the lamp cool enough, the switches actuated too quickly. This led to a constant flicker, which made the lamps unusable (the same principle is now used in Christmas garlands).

It soon became clear to everyone who worked in Edison's lab that a different approach was needed. Edison decides to hire young physicist Francis Upton from Princeton University to work on the project. Up until this point, Edison lab staff had tried idea after idea. Under Upton's leadership, they also began to pay attention to existing patents and achievements in order to avoid such errors. The team also began doing basic research about the properties of the materials it was working with.

One of the results of testing the properties of materials was the realization that any thread has a high electrical resistance. All materials have some amount of "friction" when electricity passes through it. Materials with high resistance heat up more easily. Edison only needed to test high-resistance materials to find what he was looking for.

The inventor began to think not only about electric light separately, but also about the whole electrical system. How big does a generator need to be to light up a nearby area? What voltage is needed to light the house?

By October 1879, Edison's team began to see the first results. On the 22nd, a thin carbon filament burned for 13 hours of the experiment. More for a long time was achieved by creating a better vacuum inside the lamp (less oxygen inside the lamp slowed down the burning process). Charcoal organic materials were tested and Japanese bamboo was found to be the best. By the end of 1880, charred bamboo fibers burned for almost 600 hours. The threads turned out best form to increase the electrical resistance of materials.

Charred bamboo had a high resistance and fit well into the scheme of building an entire electrical system. In 1882, the Edison Electrical Light Company was founded, which had its stations located on Pearl Street, providing New York with light. In 1883 Macy's shop was the first to install new incandescent light bulbs.

3. Edison vs. Swan.

Meanwhile in England, Joseph Swan continued to work on electric light bulbs after seeing that new pumps made better vacuums. Swan created a lamp that was good for display but impractical in actual use. Swan used a thick carbon rod that left soot inside the lamp. Also, the low resistance of the rod meant that the lamp was using too much power. Seeing the success of Edison lamps, Swan used these advances to create his own lamps. After founding his company in England, Swan was sued by Edison for copyright infringement. In the end, the two inventors decided to end the dispute and join forces. They founded Edison-Swan United, which became one of the world's largest light bulb manufacturers.

So Edison invented the electric lamp? Not really. The incandescent lamp was invented before him. However, he created the first practical lamp along with an electrical system, which is his great achievement.

Edison's name is also associated with the invention of the telephone transmitter, the phonograph, and the mimeograph. And his incandescent lamp is used to this day. This is a testament to how great the work of Edison and his team is. After all, they transferred this invention from the laboratory to the house.

Who invented the light bulb? The answer to this question is not entirely accurate. was invented by several people, as different people expressed ideas, described hypotheses, published calculations, made drawings, or put ideas into practice.

Luminaires before the advent of the electrical counterpart

In the world of the emergence of illumination, as soon as they began to use fire. Then it began to evolve, when energy began to appear.

The first light bulbs were illuminated using such means as:

• any vegetable oil;
• oil;
• wax;
• animal fat;
• natural gas and so on.

The very first inventions of lamps used fat for lighting. A fabric wick was placed in a container with fat. Fat allowed the fire to illuminate for a long time. It looked like a candle in a container. The history of the light bulb progressed when oil began to be produced, at which time the kerosene lamp appeared. It has become so popular in a short amount of time. The invention of the electric light bulb comes at a time when electricity began to spread rapidly, first in urban spaces, and then in distant corners.

Opening stages

The invention of light bulbs was based on the method of glowing conductors when it passed through electricity. He was known long before the light bulb was created. But the main problem of efficient, long-lasting and affordable lighting from the electrical network was the search for a material that would be used to make the incandescent filament. Then when electricity was already a reality, and modern lamps incandescents had not yet been invented, scientists practiced only a few types of materials, among which were coal, platinum and tungsten. The last two materials were considered rare and expensive. Coal was a more accessible material.

Beginning in the 19th century, events took place that contributed to the creation of the first electric light bulb. In 1820, the French scientist Delarue created a light bulb with platinum wire. The wire warmed up and glowed, but it was just a prototype. But 18 years later, Belgian researcher Jobar showed a carbon incandescent lamp. In 1854, the German scientist Heinrich Goebel used bamboo as a source of lighting.

Who is the inventor of the light bulb?

Being interested in the answer to the question - who invented the lamp, it must be taken into account that there was a whole series of sequential manipulations, when the ideas of the predecessors were constantly picked up, which were subsequently developed. Yablochkov is the first Russian inventor who invented the first light bulb, and he also invented an electric candle, thanks to which they later began to illuminate city streets and squares. They could illuminate for 1.5 hours.

Subsequently, lamps were invented that had automatic replacement of candles. Yablochkov created not very convenient candles. Although they did an excellent job of their function.

The history of the invention is associated with the name of such a popular engineer from Russia as Lodygin Alexander Nikolaevich. In 1872, he made the dream of everyone about uninterruptible source Sveta. The history of the creation of an incandescent lamp at this stage began to rapidly gain practical use. It burned for about 30 minutes. They were first installed on the streets of the Northern capital in 1873. In the same year, the inventor of the light bulb received a patent. It can be concluded. The first incandescent lamp appeared thanks to the inventions of this scientist.

Starting in 1890, Lodygin began experimenting with the use of various refractory metals in filaments. In the end, he was able to use tungsten for the first time here. In addition, at his suggestion, for the first time, they began to pump out air from lamps and fill gas there.

In 1878, Joseph Swann helped bring about the modern version of the electric light bulb. It consisted of a glass bulb with a carbon filament. Little is known about the creator of Hiram Maxim lamps. They created a machine gun with the name "Maxim". In addition, he is the creator original model on materials such as coal and gasoline.

Thomas Edison and Ilyich

If we take into account the chronology of the order of events, then Lodygin created the electric lamp. But Yablochkov was the founder of a series of ideas that led to the emergence of a popular source of lighting today. It was these Russian inventors and the subsequent developments of researchers from Great Britain and America that were able to use the first electric light bulb in such a massive way and it turned out to be an ordinary device that produced light. But with the development of ideas, there is one who gave birth to it, and the one who got the patent. But the invention of the arc lamp is not so well known.

In 1879, Edison's platinum filament light bulb was first demonstrated. A year later, he was given another patent for a carbon filament model that worked for 40 hours. In addition, he made a certain contribution to the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs, creating a base, cartridge and switch.

That is, Thomas Edison received a patent for an electric prickly lamp as his own invention a year later, as they used the Maxim model and almost 6 years later, the general display of the Lodygin lamp. T. Edison's patent work had its own results: when combined with Joseph Swan, he founded a firm to manufacture the very first model of electric incandescent lamps. T. Edison, together with H. Maxim, when they competed against each other, were in bureaucratic proceedings among themselves.

T. Edison was more accessible. H. Maxim did not receive a single patent in this struggle, and he also had huge financial losses, for this reason he left the country and went to Europe. With an Edison light bulb, everything is clear.

But who is the founder of Ilyich's light bulb? For the current generation, the answer is ambiguous. This name was known only in the territory Soviet Union, this term appeared in the lexicon of Russians. Light bulbs Ilyich is the name of not just a lighting device, but a whole series of phenomena. In 1921, a deep economic crisis reigned on the territory of Russia, which erupted here as a result of the well-known civil war. And at that time, the State Commission for Electrification of the Russian Federation adopted the GOELRO plan. It was a plan for the development of the economy, which was based on the creation of an energy base. At this time, they began to electrify the country on a huge scale. Soon, electric bulbs began to appear in the villages, in which mainly ray or kerosene lamps were used.

The idea of ​​this plan was voiced by Lenin. For this reason, incandescent lamps began to be named after him. Such models began to heat up very quickly. Edison's light bulbs are known today for the reason that he was able to patent his invention in time. On the territory of our country, light bulbs with incandescent rods began to be associated with the name of Lenin, because he was the first to supply Russia with economical electricity.

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What were the first light sources?

Question: "Who invented the first electric light bulb?" - many people ask, but few know the correct answer to it. Many people assign this invention to the scientists of their country, but, in reality, few people know the true creator of this device.

Even in the distant times of antiquity, there were attempts to illuminate the premises different ways. The Egyptians used olive oil for lighting in their homes.

The oil was poured into clay vessels, which had wicks made of special cotton threads.

Such a simple device made their room brighter.

They used oil lamps for lighting.

The latter was poured into lamps and set on fire.

If we leave the question of who invented the light bulb in the background, then a second question arises: when did the first candle appear?

Already in the Middle Ages, candles were made from the well-known beeswax.

But things did not stop with candles, and scientists tried to come up with a more universal means of lighting. Even Leonardo da Vinci worked to invent the kerosene lamp.

We can only talk about the first lighting device with maximum safety from the beginning of the 19th century. But the light bulb, as we are used to seeing it today, was not invented until three decades later.

Who invented the first electric candle?

One of the answers to the question of who invented the light bulb will be - Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov, Russian inventor, electrical engineer. Why one of the answers? And all because Yablochkov did not invent the first electric light bulb, as such, but only its prototype. The merits of this inventor belong to the invention of the first electric candle. The burning time of the candle was only an hour and a half.

After candles, the inventions of lanterns with automatic replacement candles at the right time. Although Yablochkov's invention deserves respect, it was not very inconvenient to use. Candles could last only a short period of time, and then they needed to be replaced. Although, this did not prevent their active use in lighting theaters, shopping centers, etc.

Who invented the light bulb?

Since 1840, for 30 years, many scientists have been looking for the perfect option for lighting, but they did not succeed. Today, everyone already knows who invented the world's first electric light bulb. This title belongs to the Russian scientist, engineer and inventor Lodygin Alexander Nikolaevich.

The modern light bulb, powered by electricity, was invented by him. All previous attempts by other inventors failed to pass the necessary tests. What can not be said about the invention of Lodygin. His light bulb burned quietly for half an hour. Later, other scientists thought of pumping air out of it, which significantly increased the operating time of the light bulb.

When was the first carbon filament light bulb invented?

At the time when Lodygin was actively developing his light bulb, the American scientist Thomas Edison carefully followed his work.

Already after 9 years, namely in 1879, he began to use carbon filament for light bulbs, which was made from beech hair of high density. Thousands of species of bamboo were needed for its invention. It is known that Edison conducted about 6 thousand tests and only after that he managed to achieve the desired result. His light bulb could burn for a very long time.

The question of who first developed the idea of ​​a light bulb again and again gives rise to various theories.

There are so many options that every nation seeks to attribute this merit to its compatriots.

The idea of ​​a constant source of light dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. During this period, scientists around the world created various projects.

So in 1820, the French scientist Delacru created the first copy of an electric light bulb with platinum wire. When an electric current was passed through it, the thread glowed and gave light.

Unfortunately, this expensive metal (platinum) was not available for mass production and remained a sample of the experimental laboratory.

Heinrich Göbel

In the second half of the 19th century, the German scientist Heinrich Goebel first proposed pumping air out of a lamp.

This allowed her to burn much longer. His project still required additional refinement and was not continued.

Yablochkov

At the same time, the invention of the Russian experimental mechanic Yablochkov was gaining momentum on the streets of France.

His candles in the lanterns illuminated the city streets. Auto-change of lamps allowed to increase the burning time to one and a half hours.

A. N. Lodygin

In 1872, the tests of the scientist A. N. Lodygin were crowned with success. His latest invention was fundamentally different from all previous ones. The cost of producing a light bulb was minimal.

The carbon filament rod allowed the lamp to burn for about half an hour. For his invention, Lodygin received a patent, and soon his lamps began to illuminate the streets of St. Petersburg.

In the future, interest in his work subsides. The scientist made every effort, but never achieved worldwide fame.

Thomas Edison

Lodygin's competitor in the 1870s was Thomas Edison. It was he who, in collaboration with other famous scientists and an American energy company, improved the well-known model and thus received a new invention.

The incandescent lamp has become an integral part of everyday life in every home. The device familiar to us was obtained by the efforts of many scientists.

The succession of their inventions gave rise to discussions about the right of primacy, which continue to this day.

But we will not belittle the merits of any of the scientists, since everyone is worthy of glory.

The persistent delusion, partly fueled by encyclopedias, that the electric light bulb was created by the American inventor Thomas Edison, and not by Russian engineers and electrical engineers Pavel Yablochkov and Alexander Lodygin, is still very popular among the masses. Well, let's try and shed some light on this very dark matter.

Each of the above inventors has a more or less long line of inventions. Nobody takes away his rights to a diving apparatus and an induction furnace from Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin. Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov not only designed the first generator alternating current, but also the first to use alternating current for industrial purposes, created an alternating current transformer, as well as an electromagnet with a flat winding, and was the first to use static capacitors in an alternating current circuit. There were other inventions that have not survived to this day, except for the mention of them.

Retired Lieutenant Yablochkov is said to have woken up famous on an April day in 1876, when he demonstrated a candle of his own invention at the London Exhibition. On low metal pedestals, at a decent distance from each other, there were four candles wrapped in asbestos, from which wires led. There was a dynamo in the next room. At the turn of its handle, the vast room was flooded with a very bright, slightly bluish electric light. The public was completely delighted with the Russian invention, and soon the fashionable term "Yablochkov's candle" appeared in print in all European languages. Why is there Europe and even the USA, the "Russian light" flooded the chambers of the King of Cambodia and the seraglio of the Persian Shah.

"Yablochkov's candle" and "Russian light" are, of course, not an incandescent light bulb. And no one seems to dispute the priority of the Russian inventor in this matter. But we are not up to the light bulb, or, conversely, it is up to her, dear! The true king (as we will see below and the real one) of the electric light bulb should rightfully be called Alexander Lodygin.

The improvements and changes he made can in fact be equated with a discovery, despite the fact that he had predecessors. With some convention, Lodygin's invention can be compared with the discovery of America by Columbus, in which the Vikings and even the ancient Phoenicians swam, but for the rest of the world this, by and large, was unimportant.

Large circulation newspaper New York Herald dated December 21, 1879, wrote: “Up to 1873, electric lighting with incandescent lamps showed, however, little progress, and the inventors considered the incandescent method as deserving much less attention than the use of a voltaic arc. In that year, however, interest in the method incandescent lighting was amplified thanks to the invention of Mr. Lodygin, who built a lamp in which many difficulties that previously seemed insurmountable were overcome.

However, it is not known exactly since when the Parisian and American newspapers called our compatriot in the French way. Alexandre de Lodyguine or Alexander de Lodyguine. The aristocratic prefix "de" added a special piquancy, which is not surprising, because Alexander Nikolayevich descended from a noble family of the Russian Empire. Despite the poverty of his parents, the genealogy of the Lodygin family was not inferior to the ruling royal family, since he came from a common ancestor with the Romanovs - Andrei Kobyla.

The prehistory of intervention in the purely "Russian history" of Edison's Yankees is as follows. In 1877, naval officer A.N. Khotinsky received cruisers in America that were being built by order of the Russian Empire. When he visited the laboratory of T. Edison, he handed over to the latter Lodygin's incandescent lamp and the "Yablochkov candle". Edison chose the most successful material - charred bamboo placed in a vacuum - for the lamp hair, which provided sufficient duration of work, and in November 1879 received a patent for his invention. Yablochkov appeared in print accusing him of violating his copyright. The light bulb continued to be improved over the next decade, but Edison continued to be credited as its inventor.

If Edison, having stolen the idea of ​​Russian bast shoes, turned them into sneakers like Nike, this would be a match for Lodygin's invention. But Thomas Alva Edison only improved the insoles or smoothed out the laces, and passed it off as his brainchild. Let's not be too hard on the enterprising Yankee nailing down the long American dollar. In the end, what did this dodgy fellow really come up with and for which we don’t even thank him when, every time, raising handset, on the different languages say: "Hello!"

But the royal relative Lodygin was unlucky in life. The Romanovs are the richest dynasty in the world, and his parents barely make ends meet. Yes, and Alexander himself, light Nikolaevich, also let us down a little. The head and hands seem to be in place, God did not offend with talent, but why is it so desperately unlucky?

The project to create an electric aircraft interested the French government, although it was intended for the native side. The National Defense Committee of France allocates 50 thousand francs to Lodygin, but on the way, either French Apaches or Russian Zhigans stole a suitcase from an absent-minded inventor. And to hell with the papers, although they are watermarked, they stole all the drawings. Instead of becoming the head of the design bureau, Alexander Nikolaevich was content with the profession of a locksmith. And feverishly began to restore the lost calculations from memory. It turned out quite according to the proverb: there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. Thus the idea of ​​the electric light bulb was born.

We have already mentioned Lodygin's reaction to Edison's tricks, because Alexander Nikolayevich filed his application for a privilege, as the patent was then called in Russia, back in 1872. At least five years before the impudent workaholic Edison. But, you see, it's not just about papers... Eight lanterns with Lodygin's light bulb illuminated the streets of St. Petersburg already in 1873 - and this is already a very clear argument. But, as usual, both Russian laziness and Russian foolishness prevented putting the presumptuous Yankees in their place. Alexander Lodygin played politics, joining the "People's Volunteers" who hunted the Russian Tsar with bombs. Having miraculously avoided arrest, in 1880 Lodygin was elected a member of the Russian Technical Society. It seems to be for the proposal to replace the vacuum in the flask with an inert gas.

And yet he had to leave the Fatherland. And while the talented inventor pretended to be indignant at the rotten tsarist regime, his American colleague did not boycott the bigwigs of Wall Street. His small candle-sorry, light-bulb factory was churning out 500 electric light bulbs a day. The political emigrant Lodygin was not able to track the fate of his applications to the US Patent Office, and as soon as the deadlines for their consideration ended, Edison, who did not skimp on clever lawyers, immediately filed his own petition and instantly received his copyright.