First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.
Steve Martin (August 14 1945-)
Picture: Rex Features
Lightbulb demonstrationIn 1879, Thomas A. Edison successfully demonstrated the first durable and commercially practical electric light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. This model lasted 40 hours before burning out. The idea of electric lighting was not new; several people, including Joseph Swan, had worked on and even developed forms of electric lighting. However, nothing durable had been developed that was practical for home use. The difficulty was finding a suitable material for the filament. Edison tested over 6,000 vegetable growths (baywood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax, bamboo) as filament material. After one and a half years of work, after spending $40,000, and performing 1,200 experiments, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread. |
