Thomas Alva Edison

bulb

4. LIGHT BULB Thomas Alva Edison, who developed the first electric light bulb, is shown in his laboratory in West Orange, N.J., in this undated photo. Edison holds the "Edison Effect" bulb on which all the science of modern electronics is said to be based today. As one of history's greatest inventors, Edison also developed the phonograph, the kinetoscope and the alkaline battery, and held more than 2,000 patents before he died on October 18, 1931. (AP Photo/J. Walter Thompson)