It’s about to get bright with the International Day of Light
This week’s topic features International Day of Light, which falls on May 16th. While researching this day, I learned a bevvy of fun facts that I thought might entertain my readers as well, especially considering how much we appreciate our electric lights!
To begin, we need to go back to 1802 when Humphrey Davy invented the world’s first electric lamp. He did so by connecting a voltaic substance/object, something that produces direct electric current through chemical reactions (batteries), to charcoal electrodes. Since this combination produced a light that was too bright for such purposes as lighting a room, this arc lamp was eventually used by miners in their safety lamps and in street lamps in some European cities throughout the early 1800s. These lights also had a very short lifespan.
Joseph Swan would come up with a solution for the brightness and cost-effectiveness of the electric lamp. In 1850 he replaced the platinum filament with carbonized paper filaments. Unfortunately, Swan’s invention didn’t solve the practicality issue of Davy’s electric light since it too had a very short lifespan. Despite the issue, Swan patented his invention in 1878.
In 1879 Thomas Edison discovered the flaw in Swan’s version of the electric lamp and refined it; despite his attempts he was unable to win a lawsuit against Swan when he copied the change and stated an electrical lighting company in England. Eventually the two men would form the Edison-Swan United company which would become the largest producer of light bulbs.
Jumping forward to the 1960s, Nick Holonyak accidentally invented the red LED light and patented it. Then in the 1990s, the blue LED light was created by Japanese and American scientists who would be awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention; their names are Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura.
From their invention, the white LED light was created, and I imagine I speak for at least the majority of us when I say we are all grateful for their existence, especially if it gets us away from the fluorescent lights. Plus, none of us are complaining about the lifespan of an LED bulb. Now that you’ve read this brief history of electric lights, take a moment on the 16th of May to appreciate how much easier life is with light!
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New & Coming Soon:
The Backyard Bird Chronicles written and illustrated by Amy Tan (NonFiction; Book)
Canto Contigo: A Novel by Jonny Garza Villa (YA Fiction; Book)
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (Non-Fiction; Book, eBook)
Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier (YA Fiction; Book)
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The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco (YA Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)
Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin (YA Fiction; Book, eAudiobook)
The Wild Lavender Bookshop: A Someday Valley Book, Book 2 by Jodi Thomas (Fiction; Book, Large Print, eBook)