In September 1878, Thomas Alva Edison brashly—and prematurely—proclaimed his breakthrough invention of a workable electric light. That announcement was foll

A sweeping history of the electric light revolution and the birth of modern America The late nineteenth century was a period of explosive technological creativi

Thomas Edison stunned America in 1879 by unveiling a world-changing invention--the light bulb--and then launching the electrification of America's cities. A dec

In 1879, Thomas Alva Edison invented the first practical incandescent electric light in his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory, ushering in an era driven by ele