Which came first, Big Ben or the lightbulb?

Big Ben came first, by 20 years. The great bell rang for the first time.

Side by side

Big Ben

Big Ben is the bell, not the tower and not the clock. It first rang in July 1859, cracked within two months, and has rung with that crack ever since — which is why it has its particular sound. The tower was called the Clock Tower until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth Tower for the Diamond Jubilee.

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.