History of Lighting and Lamps

By Katie Ward
  • The first lamp was made.
    70,000 BCE

    The first lamp was made.

    A hollow rock or shell was filled with moss or other natural objects that were soaked with animal fat and ignited.
  • Diffrent types of fuels used to ignite the fires

    Diffrent types of fuels used to ignite the fires

    Early things that were used were olive oil, beeswax, fish oil, whale oil, sesame oil, nut oil, and similar substances. Later they stopped using these and started drilling for petroleum.
  • Next came the Gas Lamps

    Next came the Gas Lamps

    The first commercial usage of the gas lamp was when William Murdoch used coal gas for lighting his house in Redruth, Cornwall.
  • The big promation of the lamp

    The big promation of the lamp

    The oil lamp was a big improvement for the lamp design and the fuel source was more concealed and easier to control.
  • Then came the Electric Arc Lamp

    Then came the Electric Arc Lamp

    A carbon arc lamp works by hooking two carbon rods to a source of electricity. Sir Humphrey Davy invented the carbon are lamp.
  • The First Electric Incandescent Lamps

    The First Electric Incandescent Lamps

    Sir Joseph Swann of England and Thomas Edison both invented the first electric incandescent lamps. Electricity flows through the filament in the bulb.
  • The First Lightbulb

    The First Lightbulb

    Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Alva Edison did not "invent" the first lightbulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. For example, two inventors that patented an incandescent light bulb before Thomas Edison did were Henry Woodward and Matthew Evan.