360What happened in 1879?
7 moments from 1879 on 360n60, each told in 60 words or fewer.
- History · October–December 1879
Edison's light bulb brings practical electric light
In late 1879, Thomas Edison's team in Menlo Park, New Jersey, tested a light bulb with a carbon filament that glowed for many hours. In England, Joseph Swan had developed a similar lamp. Edison also built power stations to supply electricity, and electric light soon replaced gas and candles.
- On this day · 14 March 1879
Albert Einstein is born
On 14 March 1879, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany. His theories of relativity changed our understanding of space, time and gravity, and his work on light helped found quantum physics. He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. The date is also celebrated as Pi Day, from 3.14.
- On this day · 21 October 1879
Edison's light bulb burns for over 13 hours
On 21 October 1879, in his laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison tested a light bulb with a carbonised cotton thread that glowed for more than 13 hours. Better filaments soon lasted hundreds of hours, and electric light spread around the world.
- On this day · 4 November 1879
The cash register is patented
On 4 November 1879, James Ritty, a saloon owner in Dayton, Ohio, received a US patent for a mechanical cash register, nicknamed the 'Incorruptible Cashier'. It recorded every sale. The business was later bought and grew into the National Cash Register Company, which spread cash registers to shops worldwide.
- October 1879 · from Edison's light bulb brings practical electric light
Edison's carbon-filament bulb lasts 13 hours
- 31 December 1879 · from Edison's light bulb brings practical electric light
Public demonstration at Menlo Park
- 1879 · from The 1870s: the telephone, the phonograph and the light bulb
Edison's long-lasting light bulb