Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931) was an American inventor whose Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory produced a practical incandescent lighting system in 1879. He was also a formidable promoter: he opened his laboratory to the press and the public over the New Year holiday of 1879–80, and the resulting newspaper coverage did as much for the electric light as the filament did. The candle line belongs to that publicity campaign — Edison's actual recorded boast was cheaper than tallow, and the sharper modern version grew out of it over the following century.