Editing Timeline of lighting technology

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[[File:Eclairage.jpg|thumb|Lighting through the ages ([[:File:Eclairage.jpg|legend]])]]
[[File:The-price-for-lighting-per-million-lumen-hours-in-the-uk-in-british-pound.svg|thumb|The price of lighting through the ages]]
{{image frame
|content=<timeline>
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BackgroundColors = canvas:lightgrey
ImageSize  = width:240 height:1024
PlotArea   = width:200 height:1000 left:40 bottom:20
DateFormat = yyyy
Period     = from:1780 till:2023
TimeAxis   = orientation:vertical order:reverse
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1786
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1780

PlotData=

  mark:(line,black)
  shift:(15,-5)
  at:1780 text:"[[Argand lamp]] 
  at:1794 text:"[[Gas lighting]]"
  at:1802 text:"[[Arc lamp]]"
  at:1856 text:"[[Geissler tube]]"
  at:1867 text:"[[Fluorescent lamp]]"
  at:1875 text:"[[Electric light bulb]]"
  at:1880 text:"[[Incandescent_light_bulb#Dominance_of_carbon_filament_and_vacuum|Long lasting filament]]"
  at:1885 text:"[[Gas mantle]]"
  at:1893 text:"[[Gas-discharge lamp]]"
  at:1901 text:"[[Mercury-vapor lamp]]"
  at:1904 text:"[[Tungsten filament]]"
  at:1910 text:"[[Neon lighting]]"
  at:1913 text:"[[Incandescent_light_bulb#Revolution_of_the_tungsten_filament,_inert_gas,_and_the_coiled_coil|Inert gas in bulb]]"
  at:1917 text:"[[Incandescent_light_bulb#Revolution_of_the_tungsten_filament,_inert_gas,_and_the_coiled_coil|Coiled coil filament]]"
  at:1920 text:"[[Sodium-vapor lamp]]"
  at:1927 text:"[[Light-emitting diode]]"
  at:1953 text:"[[Halogen light bulb]]"
  shift:(15,1)
  at:1962 text:"[[Light-emitting diode|Red LED]]"
  shift:(15,-4)
  at:1963 text:"[[Sodium-vapor lamp#High-pressure sodium|High pressure sodium-vapor lamp]]"
  at:1976 text:"[[Compact fluorescent lamp]]"
  at:1987 text:"[[Organic_light-emitting_diode|OLED]]"
  at:1990 text:"[[Sulfur lamp]]"
  at:1995 text:"[[Light-emitting diode|Blue LED]]"
  shift:(15,1)
  at:2008 text:"[[LED filament]]"
  shift:(15,-4)
  at:2009 text:"[[Phase-out of incandescent light bulbs]]"
  at:2018 text:"[[Phase-out of incandescent light bulbs#European_Union|Phase-out of halogen light bulbs]]
  at:2021 text:"[[Compact fluorescent lamp#History|Phase-out of compact fluorescent light bulbs]]
  
</timeline>}}
Artificial [[lighting]] technology began to be developed tens of thousands of years ago and continues to be refined in the present day.

== Antiquity ==
* 125,000 BC Widespread [[control of fire by early humans]].<ref name="beyondveg">{{cite web|url=http://www.beyondveg.com/nicholson-w/hb/hb-interview2c.shtml|title=First Control of Fire by Human Beings—How Early?|access-date=2007-11-12}}</ref>
* 17,500 BC oldest documented lamp, utilizing animal fat as fuel<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=de Beaune |first1=Sophie A. |last2=White |first2=Randall |date=1993 |title=Ice Age Lamps |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24941409 |journal=Scientific American |volume=268 |issue=3 |pages=108–113 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0393-108 |jstor=24941409 |bibcode=1993SciAm.266c.108D |issn=0036-8733|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* {{c.|4500 BC}} [[oil lamp]]s
* c. 3000 BC [[candle]]s are invented.
* 577 CE Use of [[match]]es in China.<ref name="Needham">{{cite book|last=Needham|first=Joseph|title=Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 1, Physics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ9nayZZ2oEC&pg=PA703|date=1 January 1962|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-05802-5|pages=70–71|quote=sulphur matches were certainly sold in the markets of Hangchow when Marco Polo was there|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102072357/http://books.google.com/books?id=oJ9nayZZ2oEC&pg=PA703|archive-date=2 January 2014}}</ref>

== 18th century ==
* 1780 [[Ami Argand]] invents the [[Argand lamp|central draught fixed oil lamp]].
* 1784 Argand adds glass chimney to central draught lamp.
* 1786 [[William Nicholson (chemist)|William Nicholson]] proposes use of concentric wicks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicholson |first=William |date=May 1785 |title=The London Magazine, of May 1785 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081682787&seq=7 |access-date=28 October 2024 |website=Hathi Trust}}</ref>
* 1792 [[William Murdoch]] begins experimenting with [[gas lighting]] and probably produced the first gas light in this year.
* 1800 French watchmaker {{ill|Bertrand Guillaume Carcel|fr}} overcomes the disadvantages of the Argand-type lamps with his clockwork fed [[Carcel lamp]].

== 19th century ==
* 1800–1809 [[Humphry Davy]] invents the [[arc lamp]] when using Voltaic piles (battery) for his electrolysis experiments.
* 1802- [[Vasily Vladimirovich Petrov]] developed the first persistent [[electric arc]].<ref name="guarnieri 7-1">{{Cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|year=2015|title=Switching the Light: From Chemical to Electrical|journal=IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine|volume=9|issue=3|pages=44–47|doi=10.1109/MIE.2015.2454038|hdl=11577/3164116|s2cid=2986686|url=https://www.research.unipd.it/bitstream/11577/3164116/5/21%20LightElectric.pdf|hdl-access=free|access-date=2019-09-02|archive-date=2022-02-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214220606/https://www.research.unipd.it/retrieve/handle/11577/3164116/225053/21%20LightElectric.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* 1802 William Murdoch illuminates the exterior of the [[Soho Foundry]] with gas.
* 1805 Philips and Lee's Cotton Mill, [[Manchester]] was the first industrial factory to be fully lit by gas.
* 1809 Humphry Davy publicly demonstrates the first electric lamp over 10,000 lumens, at the Royal Society.<ref name="DrThomasKlett">Dr. Thomas Klett, ''Geschichte der Lichttechnik'' [History of Lighting]</ref>
* 1813 National Heat and Light Company formed by [[Frederick Albert Winsor]].
* 1815 Humphry Davy invents the [[Davy lamp|miner's safety lamp]].
* 1823 [[Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner]] invents the [[Döbereiner's lamp]].
* 1835 [[James Bowman Lindsay]] demonstrates a [[light bulb]] based electric lighting system to the citizens of [[Dundee, Scotland|Dundee]].
* 1841 Arc-lighting is used as experimental public lighting in Paris.
* 1853 [[Ignacy Łukasiewicz]] invents the modern [[kerosene lamp]].
* 1856 [[glassblowing|glassblower]] [[Heinrich Geissler]] confines the electric arc in a [[Geissler tube]].
* 1867 [[Edmond Becquerel]] demonstrates the first [[fluorescent lamp]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=In The Beginning: 10 Inventors of the Incandescent Lightbulb |url=http://txchnologist.com/post/77710091911/in-the-beginning-10-inventors-of-the-incandescent |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20210417195155/https://txchnologist.com/post/77710091911/in-the-beginning-10-inventors-of-the-incandescent#_=_ |archive-date=2021-04-17 |access-date=2025-05-06 |work=Txchnologist}}</ref>
* 1874 [[Alexander Lodygin]] patents an [[incandescent light bulb]].
* 1875 [[Henry Woodward (inventor)|Henry Woodward]] patents an electric light bulb.
* 1876 [[Pavel Yablochkov]] invents the [[Yablochkov candle]], the first practical carbon arc lamp, for public street lighting in Paris.
* 1879 (About Christmas time) Col. [[R. E. Crompton]] illuminated his home in [[Porchester Gardens]], using a primary battery of Grove Cells, then a generator which was better. He gave special parties and illuminated his drawing room and dining room. Source: Practical Electrical Engineering, Newnes. Article entitled "The Development of Electric Lighting". 
* 1879 [[Thomas Edison]] and [[Joseph Swan]] patent the carbon-thread [[incandescent lamp]]. It lasted 40 hours.
* 1880 Edison produced a 16-watt lightbulb that lasted 1500 hours.
* 1882 Introduction of large scale [[direct current]] based indoor incandescent lighting and lighting [[utility]] with Edison's first [[Pearl Street Station]]
* c. 1885 Incandescent [[gas mantle]] invented, revolutionises [[gas lighting]].
* 1886 [[Great Barrington, Massachusetts]] demonstration project, a much more versatile (long-distance transmission) [[transformer]] based [[alternating current]] based indoor incandescent lighting system introduced by [[William Stanley, Jr.]] working for [[George Westinghouse]].<ref>Great Barrington Historical Society, Great Barrington, Massachusetts</ref>  Stanley lit 23 businesses along a 4000 feet length of main street stepping a 500 AC volt current at the street down to 100 volts to power incandescent lamps at each location.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Barrington Experiment |url=http://edisontechcenter.org/GreatBarrington.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=edisontechcenter.org}}</ref>
* 1893 GE introduces the first commercial fully enclosed carbon arc lamp. Sealed in glass globes, it lasts 100h and therefore 10 times longer than hitherto carbon arc lamps <ref name="DrThomasKlett"/><ref name="Gorowitz">Bernard Gorowitz Ed., ''The General Electric Story''</ref>
* 1893 [[Nikola Tesla]] puts forward his ideas on high frequency and wireless electric lighting<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carlson |first=W. Bernard |title=Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age |date=April 27, 2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691165615 |pages=132}}</ref><ref>note: at [[St. Louis, Missouri]], Tesla public demonstration called, "[[s:On Light and Other High-Frequency Phenomena|On Light and Other High-Frequency Phenomena]]", (Journal of the Franklin Institute, Volume 136 By Persifor Frazer, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pa)</ref> which included public demonstrations where he lit a [[Geissler tube]] wirelessly.
* 1894 [[Daniel McFarlan Moore]] creates the [[Moore tube]], precursor of [[glow discharge|electric gas-discharge]] lamps.
* 1897 [[Walther Nernst]] invents and patents his [[Nernst lamp|incandescent lamp]], based on [[Solid state (electronics)|solid state]] [[electrolyte]]s.

== 20th century ==
* 1900 Frederick Baldwin patents a [[carbide lamp]] for use on bicycles.<ref>{{US patent|656874}}</ref>  The invention builds on acetylene lamps from the 1890s.
* 1901 [[Peter Cooper Hewitt]] creates the first commercial [[mercury-vapor lamp]].
* 1904 [[Alexander Just]] and [[Franjo Hanaman]] invent the [[tungsten]] filament for incandescent lightbulbs.
* 1910 [[Georges Claude]] demonstrates [[neon lighting]] at the [[Paris Motor Show]].
* 1912 Charles P. Steinmetz invents the [[metal-halide lamp]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A brief history of high intensity discharge hid lighting|url=https://www.shineretrofits.com/knowledge-base/lighting-learning-center/a-brief-history-of-high-intensity-discharge-hid-lighting.html|website=Shine Retrofits|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
* 1913 [[Irving Langmuir]] discovers that [[inert gas]] could double the luminous efficacy of incandescent lightbulbs.
* 1917 [[Burnie Lee Benbow]] patents the [[coiled coil]] filament.
* 1920 [[Arthur Compton]] invents the [[sodium-vapor lamp]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Sodium Lamp|url=http://www.edisontechcenter.org/SodiumLamps.html|website=Edison Center|access-date=21 December 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920234320/http://www.edisontechcenter.org/SodiumLamps.html|archive-date=20 September 2014}}</ref>
* 1921 Junichi Miura creates the first incandescent lightbulb to utilize a coiled coil filament.
* 1925 [[Marvin Pipkin]] invents the first internal frosted lightbulb.
* 1926 [[Edmund Germer]] patents the modern fluorescent lamp.
* 1927 [[Oleg Losev]] creates the first [[light-emitting diode|LED]] (light-emitting diode).
* 1953 Elmer Fridrich invents the [[halogen lamp]].<ref>{{cite web|title=20th Century Inventors: Tungsten Halogen Lamp|url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/bios/frid.htm|website=American History|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
* 1953 André Bernanose and several colleagues observe [[electroluminescence]] in organic materials.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Bernanose, A.|author2= Comte, M.|author3 = Vouaux, P. |journal= J. Chim. Phys.|year = 1953|volume= 50|page= 64|title= A new method of light emission by certain organic compounds|doi= 10.1051/jcp/1953500064}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author= Bernanose, A. |author2 = Vouaux, P.|journal= J. Chim. Phys.|year= 1953|volume= 50|page= 261|title= Organic electroluminescence type of emission|doi = 10.1051/jcp/1953500261}}</ref>
* 1960 [[Theodore H. Maiman]] creates the first [[laser]].
* 1962 [[Nick Holonyak]] Jr. develops the first practical visible-spectrum (red) light-emitting diode.
* 1963 Kurt Schmidt invents the first [[Sodium-vapor lamp#High-pressure sodium|high pressure sodium-vapor lamp]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schmidt|first1=Kurt|title=High pressure sodium vapor lamp|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3248590|website=Google Patents|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
* 1972 [[M. George Craford]] invents the first yellow light-emitting diode.
* 1972 Herbert Paul Maruska and Jacques Pankove create the first violet light-emitting diode.
* 1981 Philips sells their first Compact Fluorescent Energy Saving Lamps, with integrated conventional ballast.
* 1981 Thorn Lighting Group exhibits the [[ceramic metal-halide lamp]].
* 1985 [[Osram]] answers with the first electronic Energy Saving Lamps to be very successful.<ref name="DrThomasKlett" />
* 1987 [[Ching Wan Tang]] and [[Steven Van Slyke]] at [[Eastman Kodak]] create the first practical [[OLED|organic light-emitting diode]] (OLED).
* 1990 Michael Ury, Charles Wood, and several colleagues develop the [[sulfur lamp]].
* 1991 [[Philips]] invents a fluorescent lightbulb that lasts 60,000 hours using [[Electromagnetic induction|magnetic induction]].
* 1994 T5 lamps with cool tips are introduced to become the leading fluorescent lamps with up to 117 lm/W with good color rendering. These and almost all new fluorescent lamps are to be operated on electronic ballasts only.<ref name="DrThomasKlett" />
* 1994 The first commercial [[sulfur lamp]] is sold by Fusion Lighting.
* 1995 [[Shuji Nakamura]] at [[Nichia|Nichia labs]] invents the first practical blue and with additional phosphor, white LED, starting an LED boom.<ref name="DrThomasKlett" />

== 21st century ==
* 2008 Ushio Lighting demonstrates the first [[LED filament]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ledinside.com/knowledge/2015/2/the_next_generation_of_led_filament_bulbs |title=The Next Generation of LED Filament Bulbs |access-date=2025-05-10}}</ref>
* 2011 [[Philips]] wins [[L Prize]] for LED screw-in lamp equivalent to 60&nbsp;W incandescent A-lamp for general use.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Clear}}

[[Category:Lighting]]
[[Category:Technology timelines|Lighting]]
[[Category:Types of lamp]]