Longest-lasting light bulbs facts for kids
Have you ever wondered how long a light bulb can last? Some light bulbs have been shining for many, many years! This article tells you about some of the oldest and longest-lasting light bulbs ever recorded.
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The World's Longest-Lasting Light Bulb
The light bulb that has lasted the longest is called the Centennial Light. You can find it in Livermore, California, at a fire station. The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department takes care of it.
This amazing bulb is over 120 years old! It was first turned on in 1901. It has only been switched off a few times in all those years. The Centennial Light is famous. It's even in The Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not!. General Electric also agrees it's the world's longest-lasting bulb.
Why Do Some Light Bulbs Last So Long?
It might seem strange that these old light bulbs last so long. But there's a good reason! Most of the damage to a light bulb happens when it's turned on and off. It's not usually from just staying on.
When you turn a bulb on, its tiny wire inside, called a filament, gets very hot. When you turn it off, the filament cools down. This heating and cooling makes the filament expand and shrink. Over time, tiny cracks can form in the wire. The more a light is turned on and off, the bigger these cracks get. Eventually, the wire breaks, and the bulb stops working.
Other things help bulbs last a long time too. The size and quality of the filament matter. Also, if the electricity flowing to the bulb is steady, it helps. Power surges or drops can damage the filament.
Other Super Long-Lasting Light Bulbs
The Second Longest-Lasting Bulb
The second longest-lasting light bulb is in Fort Worth, Texas. It's known as the Eternal Light. In 1970, this bulb was thought to be the longest-lasting. That was two years before the Livermore bulb became famous.
This bulb was first put in a theater called the Byers Opera House. A stage-hand named Barry Burke installed it on September 21, 1908 . It was placed above a backstage door.
In 1977, the theater was torn down. The bulb was then moved to a museum in the Livestock Exchange Building. Since it moved to the museum, it has only been turned off once by accident. After that, it was put on a special circuit that can't be switched off. Museum workers say the bulb also lost power during some electricity cuts in 2021.
There's another working light bulb from 1908 in Norway. It's in the "Kongevognen" (King's wagon) of the Thamshavnsbanen railway. This bulb is one of the original ones from the wagon, made by the Edison factory in the United States. The wagon is now part of a museum. The light bulb is still used several times each week!
The Third Longest-Lasting Bulb
The third longest-lasting light bulb was in New York City. It was above the back door of a hardware store called Gasnick Supply. The store owner, Jack Gasnick, said it was installed in 1912 .
Jack Gasnick tried to prove that the Livermore bulb wasn't real. In 1981, he even wrote to a newspaper column saying the Livermore bulb had burned out, but it hadn't. In 1983, he told Guinness that the Livermore bulb was a trick. He thought the bulb's socket looked too new for its age. He also said his own bulb was dirty inside from use, but the Livermore one was clean. He believed his bulb was the oldest, not knowing about the one in Fort Worth.
We don't know what happened to Jack Gasnick or his bulb. The store and the whole block it was on were torn down in 2003.
The Fourth Longest-Lasting Bulb
The fourth longest-lasting light bulb was in a fire station in Mangum, Oklahoma. This bulb didn't have any special power supply. So, when the electricity went out, the bulb went out too.
Firefighters in Mangum were happy to show visitors the light bulb when they weren't busy. Sadly, the Mangum Light Bulb finally burned out on Friday, December 13, 2019 .
The Fifth Longest-Lasting Bulb
The fifth longest-lasting light bulb was in a washroom. It was at the Martin & Newby Electrical Shop in Ipswich, England. Because of its shape, people thought it was from the 1930s. It burned out in January 2001 .
The Sixth Longest-Lasting Bulb
The sixth longest-lasting light bulb is in the Cinema Napoleón in Río Chico, Miranda, Venezuela. It was put in place in 1957. People there have a local belief that it should never be turned off. The light bulb has only gone off during power cuts.
Thomas Edison and the "Eternal Light"
Thomas Edison once designed a light bulb that he hoped would last forever. He called it the Eternal Light. He turned it on on October 22, 1929. This bulb is in the Edison Memorial Tower at the Thomas Edison Center in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
The original tower fell down in 1937. But people said the bulb kept shining even then! It supposedly kept burning while a new tower was built. However, the museum's curator, Jack Stanley, says the bulb isn't real. He says it's an empty bulb lit up by car headlights hidden in the display.
