The Development of Urban Lighting
The phenomenon of magnetic and electric effects was studied by ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman historians.
In 1750, Benjamin Franklin, an American writer, tried to collect electrical charges in a kite during a thunderstorm. An Italian scientist and Professor of the University of Pavia made an appreciable step forwards with the discovery of the continuous electric current in 1800 which was named after him, called the Volta Pile. The announcement stunned the scientific world and it was from this basic concept that electric light was later developed.
There were several areas of investigation into the electric light, namely, the carbon arc, the incandescent filament bulb, gaseous discharge lights and chemical light.The carbon arc light was the earliest form of electric illumination.
In 1809 the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy demonstrated his carbon arc lamp at The Royal Institute in London. His invention known as the electric arc light was not put to widespread use until the 1850s.
The sheer intensity of the light and the need for low voltage electricity prohibited its use in confined space unless the illumination was muted by blinds. It was used for street lighting and for lighthouses, but had largely been discontinued by the First World War and replaced by other forms of electricity. However, carbon arc lighting was continued to be used in military applications like search lights on aircraft.
The Incandescent Bulb
The development of the incandescent bulb continued in parallel with that of the are light. In 1865, Hermann Sprengel invented a mercury vacuum pump which allowed a sufficiently high vacuum to be obtained in the bulb for further experiments on the filament to take place. The American, Thomas Edison (1847-1931) - who invented the telegraph — and the Englishman, Joseph Swan (1825-1914) are both credited with having discovered the incandescent filament bulb.
In 1878 Swan heated the filament while evacuating the bulb of its gases, so prolonging its life while Edison achieved 45 hours of illumination from his bulb in 1879. Refinements soon followed: Edison devised the screw-in brass cap and Swan the bayonet fitting. Both were marketing bulbs by the 1880s. A partnership was formed between Swan and Edison, creating the Edison & Swan United Company which later became Ediswan.
In 1881 The Engineer claimed that the first house to be completely illuminated by electricity was the house of Lord Kelvin, a close friend of Swan. His house in Glasgow had been illuminated by 106 gas lights which were converted to electric lights powered by a generator, driven by a gas engine.
In the same year, Sir William Armstrong, engineer and arms manufacturer, lit 45 electric lamps in his famous picturesque Cragside home at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which had been designed by Norman Shaw in the early 1870s. The electricity was generated by a water turbine sited 1500 yards (1.3 km) from his house.
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