Hello, and welcome back to the Curious Kid podcast. Since starting this podcast, we've already learned about some inventions that changed the world.

We got curious about microwaves, televisions, airplanes, and more.

But there is one invention that came before the others, and without it, the other

inventions probably wouldn't even exist. This week we are getting serious about light bulbs.

But before we get down to business, let us tell you the question of the week. There is a light bulb in the town

of Livermore, California, and it is considered the

longest lasting light bulb in the world because it has been on for a very, very long time.

The question of the week is, how long has your light bulb in California been burning for?

There are a few different types of light bulbs, but for the

bulk of this episode, we are going to be discussing incandescent light bulbs, because they are the most

common, and also the ones that you probably have lighting up your house. The word incandescent means making light from heat. That's right. Light bulbs make light

when you provide them with electricity, but they also get really hot when lighting up your home.

The first light bulb was created in the year 1803. That's 216 years ago. It was created by a man named Humphrey Davy. That's right.

Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb, but more on that later. The light bulb created in

1803, which was called an arc lamp, wasn't practical because it burned out after just a few hours,

and the light was way too strong, with each arc lamp producing a light greater than 1,000 candles.

32 years later, the first light bulb inside of the glass bulb was invented.

It was James Bowman Lindsay who created the first glass light bulb, but it was not reliable.

Again, Thomas Edison wasn't even born when this happened in 1835.

Thomas Edison was born in the year 1847. And in his early years, light bulbs were not

widely used because they still had lots of flaws. They burned out after just hours or days at best,

and the light they gave off was way too strong and inconsistent.

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