In 1876, Edison opened a lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, that many have called an invention factory. Edison hired a team that helped him develop hundreds of inventions. One was the phonograph, a machine that recorded and played sound.
But many consider the long-lasting light bulb to be Edison’s greatest invention. His team worked tirelessly to find the best material for the filament—the thread or wire that lights up when a bulb is turned on.
They tried fishing line and the stringy part of a coconut shell. Edison even used hair from a friend’s beard. It took hundreds of attempts before Edison and his team found the answer. A bulb with a cotton thread filament glowed for about 13 hours before burning out. Months later, the team discovered that a bamboo filament worked even better. They used it to create a longer-lasting, affordable bulb.
Edison and his workers also invented the system needed to bring electricity into homes—wires, fuses, and switches to turn the lights on and off.