The invention of the light bulb was a cumulative effort involving multiple inventors over many years. Key contributors include Alessandro Volta, Humphrey Davy, James Bowman Lindsay, Warren de la Rue, Joseph Swan, and Thomas Edison. While Thomas Edison is often credited with inventing the light bulb, he actually developed the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb by improving earlier designs, discovering the best carbon filament, and employing better vacuum technology. Joseph Swan created a practical light bulb around the same time as Edison, and they eventually collaborated in a joint company called Ediswan. The invention was not the work of a single person but a series of advancements by many inventors starting from the early 19th century onward.
