Excerpt:
The invention of the incandescent light bulb has a history spanning from the early 1800s. Until that time, available light sources consisted of candles, oil lanterns, and gas lamps. In 1809, an English chemist, Humphrey Davy, started the journey to the invention of a practical incandescent light source. He used a high power battery to induce current between two charcoal strips. The current flowing through the two charcoal strips produced an intense incandescent light, creating the first arc lamp.