Thomas Edison: Victorian Inventor

Have you heard of the American scientist, inventor and businessman Thomas Edison? He lived from 1847 to1931 and one of his most famous inventions is the telephone.

The Science Museum has some great Thomas Edison stuff.

A light bulb moment
Not only does The Science Museum have Edison’s telephone, they also have a very early electric lightbulb that he invented in 1879.

On 27 January, 1880 Edison was granted a patent for his electric light bulb.

The light bulb, or Edison filament lamp as it was known, has one loop of carbon filament which glows when a current of electricity passes through it.

This lamp in the Science Museum collection was made one year after Joseph Swan’s original 1878-1879 electric light bulb.

However, both lamps were already out of date by 1883 when Swan and Edison started their successful Edison and Swan United Electric Light Company in Britain.