The history of how these mass-produced novelty lights became a holiday fixture is a distinctly American Christmas tale.

You might have learned in school that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but the truth is much stranger (public domain) It has been known for a long time that passing a current through a wire ...

At Menlo Park Edison led a comprehensive survey of filament materials, selecting carbonized bamboo for his first commercial electric light bulb. Adapted for the internet from “Thomas Edison, Chemist” ...

In 1883 Swan teamed up with Thomas Edison of the USA, who also had just made a successful electric light bulb.

When Edison patented the light bulb in 1880, its exact value was hard ... and “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. Thomas Nast’s drawings of jolly Santa Claus debuted in 1862. Meanwhile, in 1841 ...