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Edison is granted U.S. Patent 223,898 for an electric lamp

On 27 January 1880 the United States issued Patent 223,898 to Edison for an electric lamp using a carbon filament in a high-vacuum glass globe. In the causal graph this event strengthens Energy Security, a driver that strengthens Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 27 January 1880 the United States issued Patent 223,898 to Edison for an electric lamp using a carbon filament in a high-vacuum glass globe. Joseph Swan’s British work is contemporaneous.

Patent 223,898 for an electric lamp (1880-01-27).

Context

Incandescent priority is contested in Britain and the United States. A high-resistance filament that could run in parallel on a distribution system is the system-relevant claim. Litigation with Swan later produced a joint British company.

Thomas Edison is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

High confidence on the U.S. patent; medium on uniqueness against Swan.

Swan is not a rumour. He is a named independent inventor. Store the U.S. patent without erasing him.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Thomas Edison

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.7 · verified

    He is the named inventor. Carbon-filament prior work by Swan and others is part of the independent record.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactEdison is granted U.S. Patent 223,898 for an electric lamp
    2. strengthensDriverEnergy Security
    3. strengthensIndicators (4)Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)
    Mixed path

    impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 27 January 1880 · verified

    A commercially durable incandescent lamp is a generation-and-lighting system component, not a unique creation of light.

    • Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

      via Energy Security

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.34 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.62)

      Observed

      10.4% · 10.2 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      7 readings, 2018–2024: fell from 11.1% to 10.4%.

      Above normal = worse

    • Inability to keep home adequately warm

      via Energy Security

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.33 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.6)

      Observed

      7.97% of population aged 16 years or over · 5.2 above the normal line (2025)

      Worse than normal

      8 readings, 2018–2025: rose from 7.77% of population aged 16 years or over to 7.97% of population aged 16 years or over.

      Above normal = worse

    • Access to electricity (share of world population)

      via Energy Security

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.28 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.5)

      Observed

      91.6% of population · 8.4 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      4 readings, 2020–2023: rose from 90.4% of population to 91.6% of population.

      Above normal = better

    All indicators on this path (4)

    • Life expectancy at birth

      via Energy Security

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.26 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.48)

      Observed

      80 Years · 2.3 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      6 readings, 2018–2023: rose from 79.5 Years to 80 Years.

      Above normal = better

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Smithsonian — Edison lamp and related electrical collectionsSmithsonian National Museum of American History · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.U.S. Patent 223,898 — Electric Lamp (1880)United States Patent and Trademark Office / Google Patents · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

The patent text is official. Smithsonian electrical collections and Britannica independently describe the 1879–80 lamp work.

Established: U.S. Patent 223,898 on 27 January 1880. Not established: that Edison uniquely invented incandescent light, or that indoor air quality instantly improved.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorThomas Edison
  2. contributed toFactEdison is granted U.S. Patent 223,898 for an electric lamp
  3. strengthensDriverEnergy Security
  4. strengthensIndicatorPoverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Edison is granted U.S. Patent 223,898 for an electric lamp. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-edison-lamp-patent-1880

https://factrail.ai/facts/us-edison-lamp-patent-1880

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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