The invention of the electric light bulb was a cumulative effort by several inventors over nearly a century. The first electric lamp was invented by English chemist Humphry Davy in 1802, called the electric arc lamp. Warren de la Rue created an incandescent light bulb with a platinum filament in 1840, but it was not commercially viable due to cost. The first patent for a carbon filament incandescent bulb was issued to Frederick de Moleyns in 1841. Joseph Swan developed a more practical carbonized cotton filament bulb in the 1860s, and the key technological breakthrough was the invention of the Sprengel vacuum pump in 1865, which allowed for effective vacuum bulbs. Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the first commercially practical light bulb in 1879 by using a carbonized bamboo filament and improved vacuum technology, making the bulb durable and viable for widespread use. Edison also developed the electrical system to power the bulbs commercially. Thus, Edison did not invent the light bulb alone but improved and commercialized it based on prior work by others.
