Edison Lights Up Menlo Park
Next: December 31, 2026
Lighting up New Year's Eve, 1879.
The story
Where it comes from
On 31 December 1879, Thomas Edison opened his laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, to show the public his new incandescent electric light. Extra trains ran from east and west, and despite stormy weather hundreds of people came to see dozens of lamps glowing in the laboratory, the office, nearby houses and along the street outside. This Story marks that New Year's Eve demonstration. Edison was not the only inventor working on electric lamps; what set his apart was a practical bulb designed as part of a whole lighting system.
How it's celebrated
There is no organised observance, but the date makes it easy: New Year's Eve is already a night of lights. Before the countdown, try switching everything off for a minute and lighting a single candle to feel how dark a winter evening was before electric light, then switch the lights back on and send someone a card.
Did you know
- The best filaments for Edison's early lamps were made from bamboo collected at Yawata, near Kyoto, which became the standard for his lamps for about ten years.
- Iwashimizu Hachimangu shrine in Yawata has a monument to Edison and holds ceremonies in his honour on his birthday and around the anniversary of his death.
- Among the visitors was the railway president Henry Villard, who went on to order an Edison lighting system for his new steamship, the Columbia.
Coming up next
- New Year's Day · January 1, 2027
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- Isaac Asimov's Birthday · January 2, 2027
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- World Braille Day · January 4, 2027
- Hayao Miyazaki's Birthday · January 5, 2027