Of course Thomas Jefferson invented the light bulb! Right after Denzel Washington became the first American President. And let me guess, you propably also don't believe in the moon landing and that Louis Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon?
Like many men of his day Edison was a dock bag by modern standards- but he has the distinction of also being an exceptional sickbay even by the standards of his day when viewed without PR to obscure his misdeeds. That said- in the Edison/Tesla revival of the modern age and internet glory, this one gets thrown around too much in misuse.
When Edison placed his pattent for the incandescent light, Tesla hadn’t even gotten on a ship to begin the long journey to America.
Records of his early functional lights come from almost six years after Edison filed his pattent. Tesla did pattent several light designs years or decades later and designed several novel forms of light such as “wireless” powered lighting. Many remain impractical in common use even today, but none the less were innovative and laid out foundational concepts that are used in lighting and elsewhere.
The “sole inventor” is rare- arguable non existent. Edison built on the work of others who had researched electric lighting- as did Tesla. Neither man was the first to have the idea you could use electricity to produce light or even the first man to harness that idea and make light from electricity. Edison did however create a bulb that was relatively practical to actually use. One that could be manufactured with some degree of economy of scale and didn’t rely heavily on hand crafting or exotic materials and in use didn’t require specialized and extreme care and maintenance. His credit is often given as “the light bulb” but that’s because people are lazy or ignorant so don’t want to say or wouldn’t understand that he invented a specific type of incandescent light that formed the basis of modern incandescent lighting. Which is a bit of a moot point in many developed 21st century nations as the incandescent light is a sundown technology and the LED is the current standard for most..
.. household and consumer applications. So 40 or so many years ago when you saw a lightbulb, the ones in your home or your flashlight- it was usually incandescent, possible fluorescent (some hole lighting and much office and comercial lighting), but today that is not so much the case and for the generation being born right now the incandescent bulb will likely be a rarity, many may never actually see or touch one.
Stagnation in lighting isn’t all or even primarily Edison’s fault actually- a massive criminal conspiracy of global light manufacturers (it sounds crazy but look it up) through the early 20th century had set certain agreements on the longevity and other aspects of bulbs to maximize profits to bulb makers. Various events like the Second World War essentially demanded developments in lighting and broke this conspiracy for the most part and so into the mid and late 20th century we began to see renewed innovation in lighting.
Economy of scale also helped as previously bulb makers were reluctant to make extremely long lasting bulbs as they were keenly aware that they could put themselves out of business. In the modern age people tend to care less for their goods and even if a bulb lasts decades the demand in numbers for new bulbs is high enough that they have far less worry of losing sales from long lived bulbs. In their defense while “forever bulbs” were invented and at least one bulb has been in continuous use for over a century, those designed generally weren’t practical for consumers. The output is often too low or reduces with age, there are other factors as well that meant most consumers won’t buy such bulbs anyway. One of the biggest killers of many incandescent and other lighting technologies is cycling.
Conventional bulbs like incandescent bulbs can last magnitude longer if they aren’t switched on and off regularly. The process of switching the bulb on and off causes a momentary surge of power and the heat cycling of going room temperature to hundreds and thousands of degrees faster than the blink of an eye cause stress and wear. Since it isn’t practical or advisable in most applications to leave a bulb on constantly at all times, the consumer use case is in part to blame for the limited lifespan of many bulbs and their ultimate failure.
So in this particular case, while TE is a sack of crap in general and gets lots of undo credit or set out to repress those who often had better ideas etc- in this one case of the light build he often gets an unfair shake. He didn’t invent electric lighting and isn’t responsible for all bulbs, that idea comes from the simplified way they he is credited as “inventing the lightbulb.” He did invent and pattent one specific and enduringly popular design. Tesla wasn’t even in the country and wouldn’t be for some years when Edison applied for the pattent so there is little room there for an “Edison screwed Tesla” case on light bulbs. Tesla did do some instrumental work in public street lighting and high power or speciality lights for the military and others though and should get credit for his work.
When Edison placed his pattent for the incandescent light, Tesla hadn’t even gotten on a ship to begin the long journey to America.
Records of his early functional lights come from almost six years after Edison filed his pattent. Tesla did pattent several light designs years or decades later and designed several novel forms of light such as “wireless” powered lighting. Many remain impractical in common use even today, but none the less were innovative and laid out foundational concepts that are used in lighting and elsewhere.
Stagnation in lighting isn’t all or even primarily Edison’s fault actually- a massive criminal conspiracy of global light manufacturers (it sounds crazy but look it up) through the early 20th century had set certain agreements on the longevity and other aspects of bulbs to maximize profits to bulb makers. Various events like the Second World War essentially demanded developments in lighting and broke this conspiracy for the most part and so into the mid and late 20th century we began to see renewed innovation in lighting.