---
title: "Which came first, the aeroplane or the lightbulb?"
description: "the aeroplane vs the lightbulb: the lightbulb came first, by 24 years — 1879 against 1903. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/aeroplane-vs-lightbulb/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the aeroplane or the lightbulb?

**Which came first, the aeroplane or the lightbulb?: the lightbulb**

1879 — 24 years before the aeroplane

the lightbulb came first, by 24 years. Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours.

## Side by side

|  | the aeroplane | the lightbulb |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1903 | 1879 |
| Date | 1903-12-17 | 1879-10-22 |
| Category | invention | invention |
| What happened | The Wright Flyer made four powered flights at Kitty Hawk. | Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours. |

## the aeroplane

The first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 36 metres — less than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The Wrights' real contribution was not the engine but three-axis control, which they worked out with a wind tunnel of their own design after finding the published lift tables wrong. Sixty-six years separate that flight from the Moon landing, well within a single lifetime.

## the lightbulb

Edison did not invent the electric light. Humphry Davy demonstrated an arc lamp in 1802, and at least twenty inventors produced incandescent bulbs before him; Joseph Swan demonstrated one in Newcastle in 1878 and was granted a British patent, which is why Edison eventually had to merge with him as Ediswan. What Edison produced in October 1879 was a bulb that lasted long enough and cost little enough to sell, together with the generating and wiring system to make it useful.

## Common questions

### Which came first, the aeroplane or the lightbulb?

the lightbulb, by 24 years — 1879 against 1903.

### When did the aeroplane start?

1903. The Wright Flyer made four powered flights at Kitty Hawk.

### When did the lightbulb start?

1879. Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours.

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## Sources

- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/)
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)