Who Invented the Light Bulb?

Thomas Edison is the person who is commonly associated with inventing the light bulb, however it evolved over decades of experiments from scientists and engineers from several different countries.

Early experiments with electric light

Electric lighting in the 1800’s consisted of a battery and a piece of carbon creating what was known as the arc lamp.  Arc lighting proved to be too bright and not practical for indoor use.

Through the mid 1800’s experiments were being tried with incandescent lighting which produces light by heating a material until it glows across Europe and North America.  These experiments failed as the filaments burned too quickly.

Who actually invented the practical light bulb?

Thomas Edison is the person who is credited with producing the long lasting incandescent bulb that could be safely used in domestic and commercial venues.  Thomas Edison also developed the electric infrastructures needed to support his electric light bulb which included generators, wiring, switches and sockets.

Who failed 1000 times to invent the bulb?

Thomas Edison is associated with this quote, however this number has been exaggerated but he did conduct thousands of experiments before finding a solution.

When Edison was asked about his failures, his response was that he had not failed but that he had found thousands of ways that did not work.

Conclusion

The light bulb was not the result of one person's invention and while Thomas Edison did not invent the electric light bulb itself he did develop the first practical, long lasting light bulb.  The modern incandescent light bulbs are the product of many different inventors each building on the work of others previously.