Editing AC power plugs and sockets (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of AC power plugs and sockets}}

When commercial electric power was first introduced in the 1880s, it was used primarily for lighting. Other portable appliances (such as vacuum cleaners, electric fans, smoothing irons, and curling-tong heaters) were connected to light-bulb sockets. As early as 1885 a two-pin plug and wall socket format was available on the British market. By about 1910 the first three-pin earthed (grounded) plugs appeared. Over time other safety improvements were gradually introduced to the market. The earliest national standard for plugs and wall sockets was enacted in 1915 in the UK.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}