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Humphrey Davy was the first to invent the electric light.
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British scientist Warren de la Rue took a vacuum and encosed a coiled platinum filament inside it. This was the first "design".
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Joseph Wilson Swan enclosed carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb.
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Swan created a working prototype, but lacked a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity. This resulted in a short lifetime of the bulb.
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Better vacuum pumps became available and he was able to create a better bulb.
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Henry Woodward filed a patent for a lamp. They built them in all different sizes. They attempted to commercialize them but were unsuccessful.
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Swan created a longer lasting light bulb using a cotton thread. This resolved the conflict of early blackening of the bulb.
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Thomas Edison started researching the lamp and trying to improve it as well as to create a better bulb.
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Woodward sold their patent to Thomas Edison.
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Edison filed a patent for an electric lamp.
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Edison Electric Light Company started manufacturing and supplying their new product.
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Edison and his team discovered a carbonized bamboo filament that lasts over 1200 hours.
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The General Electric Company patented a new method of making tungsten filaments.
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William David Coolidge created a method of creating the longest lasting tungsten filaments.
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The first frosted lights were created.
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The first adjustable lights for car headlamps were invented.
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The first neon lights were created.
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The lights that flash one time in cameras were invented.
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The tanning lamp was invented.
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The first "soft" light bulb was invented.
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The quartz light bulb was invented.
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The Halogen light bulb was invented.
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The low wattage metal halides were invented.
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Long life bulbs were invented.
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The compact fluorescent bulb was created.
