What? Thomas Edison Did not invent the light bulb? 
light bulb

. Contrary to what schools have taught for many years, Thomas Edison, did not invent the light bulb, nor did he hold the first patent to the modern design of the light bulb. It seems we gave Mr. Edison credit for the invention solely because he owned a power company, later known as General Electric, Light bulbs used as electric lights existed 50 years before Thomas Edison's 1879 US patent. It was Joseph Swan, a British inventor, who obtained the first patent for the same light bulb in Britain one year before Edison's patent date. Swan showed many people his carbon filament light bulb in New Castle, England about 10 years before Edison shocked the world with the announcement that he invented the first light bulb. The fact was, Edison's light bulb was a carbon copy of Swan's light bulb invention.

 Swans light bulb invention was shown in a magazine called Scientific American. Without a doubt, Edison had access to, and eagerly read this article. Giving Mr. Edison the benefit of the doubt, and stopping short of calling him a theif, we can say that he invented the light bulb by making vast improvements to Swan's published, yet unperfected designs. Swan, was very angry with Edison as he watched him make a load of money from his invention.

 He took Edison to Court for patent infringement. The British Courts stood by their patent award for the light bulb to Swan, and Edison lost.. The British Courts forced Edison, as part of the settlement, to name Swan a partner in his British electric company.

 Eventually, Edison managed to buy all of Swans' interest in the new company that was now renamed Edison and Swan United Electric Company. Edison did no better back home in the U.S. the U.S. Patent Office ruled, on October 8, 1883, that Edison's patents were invalid, because he based them upon the earlier art of a gentleman named William Sawyer.

 To make matters worse, Swan then sold his U.S. patent rights, in June 1882, to Brush Electric Company. 


This stripped Edison of all patent rights to the light bulb, and left him with no hope of purchasing any. Edison dusted himself off, and went into business setting up a direct current (DC) power company in New York City, and selling swans light bulbs that used this electricity. 

The light bulb business flickered between 1879 and 1889, Edison's customer base rapidly expanded to three million customers over the span of 10 years.

 I’ll Bet You Didn’t Know, The first light bulbs lasted only 150 hours, and then ten years later, Edison introduced one that lasted 1,200 hours? The average light bulb today lasts about 1,500 hours. You could build one that last longer.