An old engraving of an early example of an electric light. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. English chemist Humphry Davy developed the first incandescent light in 1802, followed by the first practical electric arc light in 1806. Here two pieces of pure carbon have electricity from a powerful battery passed through them. By adjusting the gap between the carbon pieces, a point is found where an arc is created and the carbon burns – as well as creating intense heat, light is also emitted. By the 1870s, the arc lamp was used to light many public spaces.
An old engraving of an early example of an electric light. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. English chemist Humphry Davy developed the first incandescent light in 1802, followed by the first practical electric arc light in 1806. Here two pieces of pure carbon have electricity from a powerful battery passed through them. By adjusting the gap between the carbon pieces, a point is found where an arc is created and the carbon burns – as well as creating intense heat, light is also emitted. By the 1870s, the arc lamp was used to light many public spaces. Efforts by Swan and Edison led to commercial incandescent light bulbs becoming widely available in the 1880s.
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