The light bulb was not invented by a single person but was a cumulative invention developed by several inventors. Key figures include:
- Alessandro Volta, who developed the voltaic pile in 1799-1800, creating an early electric light source.
- Humphry Davy, who invented the electric arc lamp in 1802.
- Frederick de Moleyns, who patented an early incandescent light bulb in 1841.
- Joseph Swan, who developed a practical incandescent lamp using a carbon filament and patented it in 1881.
- Thomas Edison, often credited with the invention, improved upon previous designs by experimenting with carbon filaments and vacuum technology, leading to the first commercially viable light bulb, patented in 1880.
Thus, Edison is best known for creating the first practical and commercially successful light bulb, but the invention was the result of many earlier contributions by various inventors over nearly a century.
