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A Short History of Electric Lightby Frank Andrews |
This list is intended to cover all whose discoveries or activities contributed in some way to electric lighting. Where no definite dates are known the important date is the likely period of activity.
This internet version is not so useful for finding the cross references which was managed in the book by the index – I will amend this version to include all the inventions.
| INVENTOR or PERSON |
IMPORTANT DATE | INVENTION or CONTRIBUTION |
COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akesters | 1880 | Carbonised vegetable fibre lamp. | |
| Sir William Armstrong | 1880 | First house with Swan lamps | UK |
| Baron Carl Auer von Welsbach 1858-1929 | 1898 | Austria | |
| Peter Behrens | 1905 | ||
| Werner Bolton | 1896 | Germany | |
| Bouliguine | 1876 | Russia | |
| Hugo Bremmer | 1889 | Flame arc lamp | |
| Charles Francis Brush 1849-1929 | 1876 | Designed and marketed dynamo and arc lamp. | USA |
| Bunsen 1811-99 | 1844 | Battery | |
| de Changy | 1856 | Made open filament lamp, used in mines | France |
| Jabez Church | 1845 | Carbon purification | |
| André Claude | 1932 | France | |
| George Claude | 1907 | France | |
| A. Compton | 1920’s | USA | |
| William Coolidge | 1908 | USA | |
| Peter Cooper-Hewitt | 1901 | ||
| Colonel R. E. B. Crompton 1845-1940. | 1878 | Set up company to make Arc lamps and sell dynamoes. (1879 Differential arc) | UK |
| Sir William Crookes 1832-1919 | 1860’s | Lamp with M shaped filament. | UK |
| Alessandro Cruto 1847-1908 | 1873 | Created dense carbon. (1881 the first synthetic filament lamp) | Italy |
| Daniell 1790-1845 | 1836 | Battery | |
| Sir Humphrey Davy 1778-1829 | 1808 | First public demonstartion of Electric Light (Carbon Arc) | UK |
| Warren De La Rue 1815-89 | 1840 | Showed air would prevent practical use of platinum filament | |
| Joseph Deleuil | 1844 | Arc lamp | France |
| Dr J. W. Draper | 1846 | Platinum wire lamp. Copied by Edison and Maxim who patented it. | USA |
| Captain Drummond | 1839 | Limelight | |
| Thomas Alva Edison 1847-1931 | 1879 | First practical carbon lightbulb, independent of Swan. | USA |
| Michael Faraday 1791-1867 | 1831 | Discovery of Electro-magnetic induction and First transformer. Dynamo, Electric motor. | UK |
| Moses G. Farmer 1820-93 | 1858 | Made dynamo and first house lit by platinum (Draper type) lamps. | USA |
| W. Fenton | 1924 | USA | |
| Sebastian Ziani Ferranti 1864- | 1882 | Revolutionary alternator (Zig-zag armature) | UK |
| de Fontaine-Moreau | 1895 | Arc lamp carbons | France |
| Jean Bernard Léon Foucault 1819-68 | 1840 | Plumbago (Gas carbon) rod for arc lamps. Automation of arc lamp. | France |
| Benjamin Franklin | 1759 | Nature of lightning, Lightning rod (1760) | USA |
| Otto Freurlin | 1903 | ||
| Luigi Galvani 1737-1798 | 1780 | First battery or pile | Italy |
| Heinrich Geissler | 1854 | Germany | |
| Edmund Germer | 1926 | Germany | |
| Dr William Gilbert. 1540-1603 | 1600 | His paper gave birth to the sudy of electricity as a science. Magnetic unit Gilbert. | UK |
| C. H. Gimingham. | 1881 | ||
| Heinrich Göebel | 1854 | First carbon filament lamps, for his own use only! 39 years before Edison and Swan. | Germany / USA |
| Théophile Gramme | 1866 | France | |
| Reverend Robert Green | 1872 | Vacuum pump, used by Swan | UK |
| William Grove 1811-96 | 1840 | Made coiled filament platinum lamp - to demonstrate his battery. | |
| Johann Georg Halske | 1847 | Germany | |
| Franz Hanaman | 1903 | Austria | |
| Hannay | 1880 | UK | |
| Friederich von Hefner-Alteneck | 1878 | Self regulating differential arc (Siemens) | Germany |
| Joseph Henry | 1831 | Discovery of Electro-magnetic induction in USA. | USA |
| Frederick H. Holmes | 1850 | Arc lamp | UK |
| Paul Jablochoff 1847-94. | 1876 | Arc lamp automatic | Russia |
| Jobard | 1838 | Discovery of improved arc burning if free of air | Belgium |
| Alexander Just | 1903 | Austria | |
| Augustus King | 1845 | with Starr - Platinum wire lamp | UK |
| S. W. Konn | 1875 | Incandescent carbon rod lamp. | Russia |
| R. Küch | 1906 | ||
| Hans Kuzel | 1907 | ||
| St. George Lane-Fox | 1878 | Platinum Iridium filament lamp, first use of Nitrogen in a lamp with asbestos wick. | UK |
| American Irving Langmuir | 1913 | ||
| E. Lax | 1920’s | Germany | |
| G. Leclanché 1839-82 | 1866 | Battery | France |
| Carl von Linde | 1907 | France | |
| James B Lindsay | 1835 | ||
| Lodyguine | 1872 | Made 200 carbon block lamps and lit St. Petersburg harbour. | Russia |
| T. H. Maiman 1927-? | 1960 | USA | |
| Joseph Van Malderen | 1850 | Belgium | |
| Arturo Malignani | 1880 | Filament manufacture | Italy |
| Albon Man | 1880 | USA | |
| John Mawson | 1879 | UK | |
| Hiram Stephen Maxim 1840-1916 | 1881 | Carbonised Paper M filament. (1884 Machine gun) | USA / UK |
| Friederich Mayer | 1926 | Germany | |
| A. H. McKeag | 1942 | UK | |
| de Moleyns | 1841 | First UK patent for platinum filament lamp. | UK |
| D McFarlan Moore | 1896 | USA | |
| Pieter van Musschenbroek | 1745 | Static electricity, the Leyden Jar | Netherland |
| Walther Hermann Nernst 1864-1941 | 1897 | Iron wire evacuated lamp. (Nobel prize 1920) | Germany |
| M. Nollet 1794-1853 | 1850 | UK | |
| Antonio Pacinotti 1841-1912 | 1860 | Dynamo | Italy |
| W. Petrie 1820-94 | 1848 | (1870 improved version Staite arc lamp) | UK |
| M.Pirani | 1920’s | Germany | |
| H. Pixii | 1823 | Generator | France |
| J. Plücker | 1854 | Germany | |
| Peter Ranby | 1950 | ||
| Emil Rathenau 1838-1915 | 1881 | Germany | |
| T. Rechinsky | 1906 | ||
| G. H. Reiling | 1961 | ||
| J. Ridington | 1924 | USA | |
| August de la Rive | 1820 | First platinum filament light in partial vacuum | Switzerland |
| M. J. Roberts | 1841 | ||
| Mr C. J. Robertson | 1893 | UK | |
| William Sawyer | 1880 | USA | |
| Serrin | 1857 | France | |
| E. C. Shephard | 1850 | ||
| Carl Siemens 1829-1906 | 1853 | Germany | |
| Dr. Werner Siemens 1816-1892 | 1866 | 1866 Word 'dynamo' devloped cheap dynamo with Gramme armature | Germany |
| Wilhelm Siemens 1823-1883 (Later Sir William) | 1858 | Germany / UK | |
| Sinsteden | 1854 | Invented Storage battery. | |
| Slater | 1860’s | ||
| Duboscq Soleil | 1858 | France | |
| Hans Spanner | 1926 | Germany | |
| Sprengel | 1865 | Mercury Vacuum pump - First suitable for evacuating air for light bulbs cheaply. | |
| W. E. Staite 1809-54 | 1847 | M shaped Platinum-Iridium filament (1846-Weight driven arc lamp) | UK |
| J. W. Starr 1822-47 | 1845 | with King - Platinum wire lamp | USA |
| C. H. Stearn | 1877 | ||
| Sir Joseph Wilson Swan 1828-1914 | 1879 | First practical carbon lightbulb, independent of Edison. | UK |
| Nikola Tesla 1857-1943 | 1881 | ||
| Louis Jacques de Thenard 1777-1857 | 1801 | Incandescence (disputed) | France |
| S. A. Varley | 1866 | ||
| Count Alessandro Volta 1745-1827 | 1796 | Improved Galvani pile - Voltaic cell, demostartion of the Carbon Arc | Italy |
| C. C. van Voorhis | 1920’s | USA | |
| William Wallace | 1878 | USA | |
| Watson | 1860’s | ||
| Sir Charles Wheatstone 1802-75 | 1866 | UK | |
| Willis Whitney | 1905 | USA | |
| Wilde | 1866 |
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