On New Year's Eve, 1879, Thomas Edison unveiled his newest invention: the electric light. Reporters came from all over the U.S. to see Edison's Menlo Park lab lit up with his incandescent bulbs.

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” ...

Fronted by a luxurious mustache, this loyal lieutenant to Thomas Edison was the embodiment ... charging crowds to drum up excitement. When Edison patented the light bulb in 1880, its exact value ...

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