21 October 1879 - Historum

**Pedro** · October 20th, 2008, 07:46 PM

21 October 1879
On this day in history Thomas Edison tested an incandescent light bulb that burned for a recorded 13 ½ hours. After using 1500 materials he had found the proper method and material to make incandescence last. The success did not end Edison’s search for an even more perfect burner substance. In the weeks that followed, he and his associates made carbonized filaments from innumerable materials, including celluloid, coconut shell and even hairs clipped from the beard of staff member J. U. Mackenzie. (There’s a good trivia question.) But it was Bristol cardboard that proved best suited for use as a filament for the electric light. His first experiments with this material lasted 170 hours. And the rest as you know was history. What happened to those first 13 ½ hour burning bulbs? I am convinced they found their way to third world countries. At least they occasionally turn up in my shopping basket.

Which makes me wonder: When was the first instance of a cartoonist using a light bulb to symbolize an idea?

Kiwi · October 21st, 2008, 01:57 AM

Well, for one thing, the longest lasting light-bulb has been on continuously for 107 years, however it has been turned off a few times, but not for long, but it hasn't affected it's record.

107 years, that's nearly 1 million hours

**Pedro** · October 21st, 2008, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi

Well, for one thing, the longest lasting light-bulb has been on continuously for 107 years, however it has been turned off a few times, but not for long, but it hasn't affected it's record.

107 years, that's nearly 1 million hours

Is that the one in a California fire station? And didn't it finally burn out?

**Bucephalus** · October 21st, 2008, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedro

Is that the one in a California fire station? And didn't it finally burn out?

Apparently, it is still burning. The link below is the official site of the Centennial Bulb, in Livermore, California. If you click on the shot of the light bulb, you'll go to a "live" webcam shot of the bulb that is updated every 10 seconds.

http://www.centennialbulb.org/photos.htm

I found it amusing that the first webcam that they installed to monitor the 107-year-old light bulb only lasted three years and had to be replaced.

Apparently there is another light bulb in Texas that recently reached the 100 year mark as well:

http://www.stockyardsmuseum.org/index_files/PLB100.htm

**Pedro** · October 21st, 2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucephalus

Apparently, it is still burning. The link below is the official site of the Centennial Bulb, in Livermore, California. If you click on the shot of the light bulb, you'll go to a "live" webcam shot of the bulb that is updated every 10 seconds.

http://www.centennialbulb.org/photos.htm

I found it amusing that the first webcam that they installed to monitor the 107-year-old light bulb only lasted three years and had to be replaced.

Apparently there is another light bulb in Texas that recently reached the 100 year mark as well:

http://www.stockyardsmuseum.org/index_files/PLB100.htm

Thanks. That was a great site. Lots of information, which I like. I especially like your comment about the web cam fizzling out after only three years. lol
It reminded me of a time I attended a news conference of NASA scientists, the brains that put a man on the moon. You would have thought that with their brains they could have come up with a PA system that worked. I didn't understand a word they said. (Probably wouldn't have anyway.)