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A Short History of Electric Lightby Frank Andrews |
| YEAR | EVENT |
|---|---|
| 1600 | Dr Gilbert’s paper on Static Electricity published |
| 1676 | Electric discharge in mercury barometer tubes noted |
| 1791 | Faraday born |
| 1796 | Volta demonstrated the Voltaic Cell |
| 1801 | Electric incandescence discovered, de Thenard (France) |
| 1805 | Davy discovered electric incandescence (Platinum) |
| 1808 | Davy demonstrated Electric Arc at Royal Society Lecture |
| 1809 | Incandescent platinum in glass tube by De La Rue (UK) |
| 1812 | Coal gas lighting introduced in UK. |
| 1816 | Werner Siemens born in Germany |
| 1819 | Foucault born (France) |
| 1820 | First platinum filament in vacuum, de la Rive (Swiss) |
| 1828 | Swan born. |
| 1831 | Faraday & Henry discovered Electro-Magnetic induction |
| 1832 | Crookes born. |
| 1833 | Faraday given Chair of Chemistry at Royal Institution |
| 1835 | James B Lindsay, Scotland. First Carbon filament. |
| 1838 | Carbon to incandescence in vacuum, Jobard (Belgium) |
| 1839 | Limelight developed by Captain Drummond (UK) |
| 1840 | Maxim born |
| Platinum filament, William Grove (UK) | |
| Effect of air in a lamp De La Rue (UK) | |
| 1841 | Carbon rod in vacuum, M. J. Roberts |
| Carbon powder between platinum coils, de Moleyns | |
| 1842 | Siemens developed electroplating process |
| 1844 | Joseph Deleuil demonstrated arc lamp in Paris |
| 1845 | Starr-King Platinum lamp patented |
| 1846 | J. W. Draper produced a Platinum wire lamp (US) |
| W. E. Staite, weight driven arc lamp mechanism | |
| 1847 | Edison born |
| Cruto born (Italy) | |
| Jablochoff born in Russia | |
| Siemens & Halske formed partnership | |
| W E Staite demonstrated Platinum-Iridium lamp | |
| 1848 | Staite patented horseshoe shaped Iridium element lamp |
| Heinrich Göebel emigrated to USA | |
| 1848 | Swan started work on light bulb in England |
| 1850 | E. C. Shephard bulb with carbon blocks |
| 1852 | Graphite rod bulb by M. J. Roberts (UK) |
| 1853 | Compagnie De l’Alliance formed in France |
| 1854 | Göebel made first carbon filament bulb (USA) (verified). |
| Sinsteden invented a storage battery | |
| W E Staite died | |
| 1856 | Geissler tubes demonstrated |
| Open filament lamp used in mines, de Changy (France) | |
| 1858 | Electric Generator at South Foreland Lighthouse |
| Moses Farmer lit room in his house with Platinum lamps | |
| Compagnie De l’Alliance lit South Foreland Lighthouse | |
| 1860 | Swan made incandescent paper filament |
| 1863 | Edison invented Telegraph repeater |
| Compagnie De l’Alliance lit LeHéve Lighthouse | |
| 1864 | Nernst born in Germany |
| 1865 | Isaac Adams carbon strip lamp in a tube (USA) |
| Sprengel invented mercury drop vacuum pump | |
| 1866 | Dynamo developed independently in several countries |
| Siemens developed simple and cheap ‘Dynamo’ in Germany | |
| Pure copper produced electrolytically | |
| 1867 | Faraday died aged 76. |
| 1872 | Carbon block bulbs in nitrogen, A M Lodyguine (Russia) |
| 1875 | First Arc Lamps installed in Mülhausen, France |
| Konn, carbon rod, Russia | |
| 1876 | Jablochoff invented electric candle arc lamp (Russia) |
| Edison concentrated on invention. | |
| C. F. Brush (USA) developed an Arc lamp and dynamo | |
| Brush Electric Co. formed in USA | |
| Bouliguine, graphite rod lamp, Russia | |
| 1877 | Jablochoff’s candle installed at Louvre, Paris |
| Compagnie Générale d’electricité formed in France | |
| 1878 | Swan demonstrated his first incandescent lamp |
| Visit to Wallace inspired Edison to develop lamp | |
| Edison demonstrated his six months after Swan (Platinum) | |
| St. George Lane-Fox patented Platinum-Iridium filament | |
| Swan manufacturing Arc lamps | |
| Arc lamps installed on Thames Embankment, London, UK, | |
| Arc lamps in railway station Glasgow, Scotland | |
| Sawyer & Man developed arched paper filament lamp | |
| Siemens developed differential arc lamp (Germany) | |
| 1879 | Swan demonstrated carbon lamp (UK) 3rd February. |
| Maxim patented Platinum lamp (Beats Edison & Draper) | |
| Edison gave demonstration of Platinum lamps | |
| Edison demonstrated carbon filament bulb on 21st October | |
| Edison applied for UK patent for carbon filament | |
| Brush Electric Co. invented Automatic Voltage Regulator | |
| Brush Arcs installed at Wannamakers Store, Philadelphia | |
| Crompton developed differential arc lamp (UK) | |
| 1880 | Swan perfected his incandescent cotton lamp |
| Swan patented manufacturing process | |
| Edison perfected carbonised paper bulb | |
| Edison lamps installed on S.S. Columbia | |
| Cruto demonstrates first synthetic carbon filament bulb | |
| Screw base introduced | |
| Siemens & Halske developed differential arc lamp | |
| Brush Electric Co., USA invented dual solenoid arc lamp | |
| Sawyer & Man patented their bulb (see 1878) | |
| Bulbs sold at Ł2 each | |
| GEC ( UK ) started in City of London | |
| Spring loaded bulb holder by C H Gimingham | |
| 1881 | Worlds first generating station for electric lighting, opened at Godalming, UK |
| Power station opened in Berlin | |
| Swans Electric Light Company Ltd. formed | |
| Swan produced tall straight light bulbs | |
| Swan developed Tamodine filament | |
| Swan bulbs installed at House of Commons, London | |
| Maxim developed ‘M’ shaped carbonised paper filament | |
| Filament lights used in street in Newcastle UK | |
| Over 4,000 Jablochoff candles in use now | |
| Rathenau marketed Edison bulbs in Germany | |
| 1882 | New York got first power station |
| Cruto marketed his bulb, Italy | |
| Electric Lighting Act. UK | |
| Power station at Brighton UK | |
| Brush Electric Co. bought Fox-Lane patents | |
| 1882 | Ferranti manufactured arc lamps |
| Siemens manufactured Swan bulbs in Germany | |
| 1883 | Swan United Electric Light Company Ltd. formed |
| Swan & Edison combined as Edison-Swan Electrical Co. | |
| Cruto developed a new version of his filament | |
| Cruto exhibited his bulb at Munich Exhibition | |
| German Edison Company established in Germany | |
| 1884 | Hells Gate illuminated by Arc Lamps, 27,000 cp. (USA) |
| Brush introduced the Bayonet cap (Lane-Fox design). | |
| Vitrilite bayonet cap introduced | |
| B.T.H. Ltd. formed in UK | |
| 1885 | FERRANTI bulbs sold in London for short period |
| 1886 | Edison & Swan achieved monopoly with patents |
| First house to house wiring. Crompton (UK) | |
| Auer von Welsbach invents Incandescent Gas Mantle | |
| 1887 | German Edison Company renamed AEG in Germany |
| 1888 | Electric Lighting Act. UK |
| 1889 | Bremmer developed Flame Arc Lamp |
| 1890 | Full range of Electric household appliances available |
| Most light bulbs fitted with brass or ceramic cap by now | |
| Bulbs available from 3cp to 2,000 cp. | |
| Bulbs sold at 2s. each | |
| 1891 | Gerard Philips started to make carbon lamps (Netherlands) |
| 1893 | Russian Lodyguine plated platinum wire with tungsten |
| US court recognised Göebel bulb as prior to Edison | |
| Edison’s UK patent expired 11th November. | |
| ROBERTSON bulbs manufactured in UK by G.E.C. | |
| 1894 | Moore developed Moore tube. |
| 1897 | Nernst ‘A’ & ‘B’ lamps produced |
| 1898 | Auer von Welsbach invents Osmium filament |
| First Moore tube installation (USA) | |
| 1899 | Electric Lighting Act. UK |
| 1900 | Svea Lamp Company making coloured bulbs |
| 1901 | Cooper-Hewitt demonstrated fluorescent tube. (Mercury) |
| 1902 | Osmium filament marketed by Auer |
| Moore tube got internal electrodes | |
| AEG took over Nernst Electric Light Co. | |
| Zirconium carbide filament by Hollefreund (Germany) | |
| Switched two filament lamp. (Economical Lamp Co.) USA | |
| 1903 | Tungsten filament made by A Just & F Hanaman (Austria) |
| Tantalum filament made by Dr. Werner Bolton and Freurlin (Siemens) (Germany) | |
| 1905 | Tantalum Filament introduced world-wide by Siemens |
| Squirted tungsten developed by Hans Kunzel (Auer Company). (Germany) | |
| Anti-dazzle car lamp patented by H. Salsbury in USA | |
| W. Whitney’s GEM ‘metallised’ carbon filament (G E USA) | |
| 1906 | Auer marketed tungsten lamp as OSRAM |
| 1907 | Auer’s OSRAM bulbs sold by G.E.C. in UK |
| Drawn Tungsten filament WOTAN by Siemens & Halske | |
| Carl von Linde (France) & Claude developed neon light. | |
| 1908 | G.E.C. started to manufacture OSRAM bulbs in UK |
| Non Ductile Tungsten filament METFIL by Royal EdiSwan | |
| Philips introduced tungsten filament bulb | |
| High pressure mercury lamp introduced by Westinghouse Co. | |
| 1909 | 240v 50cp tungsten bulb cost 4s 9d each |
| 16cp Carbon bulb cost 9d | |
| MAZDA tungsten lamp by General Electric (USA) | |
| 1910 | OSRAM non ductile tungsten produced |
| Carbon bulbs sold for 9d. | |
| OSRAM bulbs sold for 2s 3d to 3s | |
| Tantalum sold for 1s 6d to 2s | |
| Ductile tungsten developed by W C Coolidge (USA) | |
| 1911 | General Electric market Coolidge bulb as OSRAM bulb(US) |
| 1912 | Robertson produces 250 watt radiator lamp |
| 1913 | Coiled Filament introduced by Langmuir (G E USA) |
| Nitrogen gas used for the first time commercially | |
| Osram GEC ATMOS (Half Watt) bulb, Nitrogen & coiled. | |
| DUMET replaced Platinum as lead-in wire (Better seal). | |
| 1914 | Swan died |
| Capless bulbs for car lamps still made | |
| Philips produced ductile tungsten lamps ARGA & ½ WATT | |
| Osram GEC switched to Argon gas filling in ATMOS lamp | |
| 1916 | Maxim died |
| 1917 | Non-sag tungsten filament developed |
| 1918 | Argon gas used |
| 1919 | Pipless bulbs appeared. |
| Osram formed by Auer, AEG and Siemens in Germany | |
| Electricity supply Act UK. Failed to co-ordinate supplies | |
| 1921 | 10% of UK homes wired for electricity |
| 1922 | Very high power tungsten bulbs developed |
| 1924 | Dipping car bulb patented by W Fenton (USA) |
| Two filament car bulb patented by A Graves (USA) | |
| 1925 | Internal frosting introduced |
| 1926 | Electricity Supply Act. UK. Set up for National Grid |
| 1927 | UK National Grid started |
| 1930 | Neon tube adverts and signs appeared |
| LUMA bulb factory opened in Sweden | |
| 1931 | Edison died on 17th October aged 83 |
| 30% of UK homes wired for electricity | |
| Philips & Osram introduced Sodium lamp | |
| 1932 | Piccadilly Circus neon adverts installed |
| 1934 | Coiled coil filament developed in USA |
| 1935 | UK National Grid near completion |
| Efficient high-pressure mercury lamp by Philips | |
| 1936 | Commercial fluorescent tubes appeared GEC (US) |
| 1937 | Sealed beam car lamp patented by E A Howard (US) |
| 1947 | Xenon lamp developed |
| 1950 | US first nuclear reactor |
| Pure white Fluorescent found by P Ranby | |
| 1951 | 85% of UK homes wired for electricity |
| Osram develop the Short Arc Xenon lamp | |
| 1956 | First nuclear power station at Calder Hall UK |
| 1957 | High Pressure Sodium lamp developed |
| 1960 | Laser beam invented by T H Maiman (US) |
| 1961 | Quartz-iodine bulb developed |
| 96% of UK homes wired for electricity | |
| 1964 | High-pressure sodium lamp introduced (US) |
| 1969 | Thorn develop Compact Source Iodide lamp |
| 1973 | Siemens LUMILUX fluorescent tube introduced |
| 1979 | Osram (G.E.C.) Ltd. Produce Swan commemorative bulb |
| 1980 | Osram CIRCOLUX, folded fluorescent tube in bulb |
| 1981 | Thorn introduce 2D lamp, Small fluorescent bulb |
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