Then comes one of the greatest inventions of human history - electricity and electrical lamp. In 1801 Sir Humphrey Davy invented the first electric carbon arc lamp by connecting two wires to the battery and attaching a charcoal strip to the other end of the wires making charge carbon glow. Again primitive, it needed perfecting and during the 1870s, both Thomas Edison and Sir Joseph Swann invented electric incandescent lamp independently (Edison by improving the 50 year old patent). It worked when an electric current was passed through a filament, which heated and produced light. These lamps lasted short by modern standards and were inefficient and fragile, but were a giant leap forward and a good base for what came after. Electric bulb was improved in 1920 when a carbon filament that was used until then is replaced with tungsten and a space inside a bulb is filled with a gas, which reduced evaporation of tungsten and with that prolongs the life of a lamp.
Some of the other type of lamps that were stepping-stones in the development of electrical lamps are fluorescent triphosphor lamps, metal halide, high-pressure sodium lamp and dichroic extra low voltage lamp.
Advancement in technology of electrical lamps is ongoing, and today, we produce many kinds of lamps with various materials, power sources, color of lights and for different usage. Neon and fluorescent lights are very popular in both industrial and home uses. Mercury lights are, because of their color, efficiency and life, used for stadiums, factories and for streetlight.