Who invented the light bulb and when?

The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879. While earlier inventors, including Sir Humphry Davy and Joseph Swan, had worked on electric lighting, Edison is credited with developing the first commercially successful and long-lasting light bulb. He achieved this by creating a vacuum inside the bulb and using a carbon filament that burned for hours. Edison’s work on the light bulb was part of his broader efforts to establish an electric power system, which changed the way people lit their homes and workplaces, and it paved the way for modern electric lighting.