A Brief History of the Lightbulb
Louie Psihoyos / Science Faction / Corbis
Tubular
Fluorescent lamps first appeared on market shelves in 1938, and by the 1950s they were lighting up most of America. More efficient and cheaper than their incandescent predecessors, fluorescents have slowly become a global lighting standard, nudging Edison's filament bulb close to extinction.
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