Please note that although this post is based on historical fact, some fiction has been added to it to embellish the same. Consequently, it is not my intention to offend anybody living or dead as a result of this post. No claims are being made for 100% historical accuracy of the events depicted in this post.
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The first instance of man creating light using electricity was when Humphry Davy in 1802 created the first incandescent light by passing electric current through a thin strip of platinum. However, the light was not bright enough nor did it last long enough for it to be practically used by anybody.
Over the next 75 years, many scientists and researchers experimented with various combinations of platinum or iridium wires, carbon rods and evacuated or semi-evacuated enclosures. None of them could however create a commercially viable electric light.
Thomas Alva Edison was one such inventor who was obsessed with this idea. Over the course of 1878 and 1879, he experimented with various carbon filaments, platinum and a variety of other metals. Despite the fact that he had invented more than a few successful and useful gadgets before this, the man dubbed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” because of his abilities, seemed to be obsessed about being the first to invent the commercially viable electric light.
His lab at Menlo Park had expanded to occupy two city blocks and was said to have a stock of every conceivable material. A newspaper reporter who investigated this tall claim was said to have found “eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made, every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels … silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hoofs, shark’s teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell … cork, resin, varnish and oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock’s tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores …” This and the fact that most of his patents were utility patents spoke volumes for Edison’s dedication to making human lives easier through his work.
Those two years Edison tried his hand with almost every conceivable material to try and keep the light as bright as possible while ensuring its longevity as well. He encouraged his students and research assistants to explore every possibility and encouraged even the wildest of their ideas towards this end. However, luck seemed to elude him and his team in this regard.
On July 29, 1878, Edison and his team traveled to Battle Lake in Wyoming not only to take a break from work but also to observe a total eclipse of the sun. When playing around with a few threads from a bamboo fishing pole, he got this idea that this might just prove to be the elusive material that he had been looking for. It was then he realized that his luck was about to turn.
After they came back from Wyoming, Edison himself used this material and experimented with it. After long, tiring and fruitful experiments, he had finally discovered the material to be used to make a commercially viable electric light.
Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.“
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Image courtesy: http://www.bubblews.com/assets/images/news/1261282852_1359897942.jpg
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This post has been written for Today’s Author Write Now Prompt for September 13, 2013 – It was then that he realized his luck was about to turn and that is why this phrase has been highlighted in the post.
