Thomas Edison Lights the Incandescent Lamp, on Oct. 21, 1879!

On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison devised a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. A New York Times reporter visited Edison there and wrote an article about it that appeared in the paper on Dec. 28, 1879. “The lamp which Mr. Edison regards as a crowning triumph is a model of simplicity and economy,” he said.

Edison was not the first man to create incandescent light. The English scientist Humphrey Davy built a powerful electric lamp in the early 1800s; The Englishman Joseph Swan received a patent on a bulb in 1878 that Edison studied while building his own.

Edison’s feat was creating a lamp that lasted longer and required less power than previous designs that were impractical for everyday use. He also, through his Edison Electrical Light Company (today, General Electric), built a system of power stations to deliver the electricity needed to run his bulbs; he discussed his plans for this in the same New York Times article.

Edison’s light bulb was one great achievement in his a brilliant career. Known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park,” Edison received more than 1,000 patents for his work and created or improved upon items like the phonograph, the motion picture camera and a battery for vehicles.

Source: https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/oct-21-1879-thomas-edison-lights-the-lamp

In my senior year at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California I created a skit about the Wizard of Menlo Park inventing the electric light bulb in his laboratory. I required an assistant to operate the device backstage in synchronicity with my acting onstage, but the 1st volunteer wasn't able to follow instructions properly so she quit. Then, when the director of "Scenario 3" threatened to cut my skit from the show altogether, the younger brother of a girl who sat behind me in Homeroom came up to take the volunteer's place and he was perfect to be behind the scenes as the flickering light bulb. ~ J.D.H.W. Bryan-Royster