But you are using one of the greatest inventions ever made. The light bulb led to new energy breakthroughs — from power plants and electric transmission lines to home appliances and electric motors.

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In 1877, after Edison invented the phonograph, Johnson took the machine on tour, charging crowds to drum up excitement. When Edison patented the light bulb in 1880, its exact value was hard to ...

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Swan continued to develop his invention and in 1880 his friend William Armstrong's house at Cragside, near Rothbury in Northumberland, was the first private home to be lit by electric light bulbs.