Energy Atlas

How The World Is Powered
Pioneers

Thomas Edison

Also Known As Thomas Alva Edison · The Wizard of Menlo Park Epithet earned after he publicly demonstrated the phonograph in December 1877 at his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory.
United States

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Lightbulb

The American inventor who built the first complete system of electric light and power: a practical incandescent lamp in 1879, then generation, distribution and metering together at the Pearl Street Station in Manhattan in 1882, the first central power station serving paying customers. His backing of direct current lost the war of currents to alternating current, and the industry he founded kept his name for a century.

Facts
Birth Date
1847-02-11 1
Birth Year
1847 1
Death Date
1931-10-18 1
Death Year
1931 1
Nationality
American 1
Defining Contribution
The first complete electric light and power system, Pearl Street Station, 1882 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Pearl Street Station was the first complete commercial generation and distribution system.

Milestones Credited

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source
United States Department of Energy Official Site
US Department of EnergyMilestones Credited: Edison Perfects the Incandescent Lamp, The History of the Light Bulb, Incandescent Bulbs Light the Way
Quote, Milestones Credited: Edison Perfects the Incandescent Lamp, The History of the Light Bulb, Incandescent Bulbs Light the Way
By October 1879, Edison's team had produced a light bulb with a carbonized filament of uncoated cotton thread that could last for 14.5 hours.
View the Source
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History
Grace's Guide LtdMilestones Credited: Holborn Viaduct Station Opens, Edison first public electricity generation station
Quote, Milestones Credited: Holborn Viaduct Station Opens, Edison first public electricity generation station
1882 Thomas Edison designed (what has been claimed to be) the world's first public steam-powered electricity generating station to light the lamps on Holborn Viaduct.
View the Source
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