---
title: "Which came first, the car or the lightbulb?"
description: "the car vs the lightbulb: the lightbulb came first, by 7 years — 1879 against 1886. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/car-vs-lightbulb/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the car or the lightbulb?

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

1879 — 7 years before the car

the lightbulb came first, by 7 years. Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours.

## Side by side

|  | the car | the lightbulb |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1886 | 1879 |
| Date | 1886-01-29 | 1879-10-22 |
| Category | invention | invention |
| What happened | Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen. | Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours. |

## the car

Benz's patent of 29 January 1886 is the usual date for the first practical petrol car. The vehicle's commercial breakthrough came from his wife: in 1888 Bertha Benz drove 106 km to Pforzheim without telling him, fixing the fuel line with a hatpin and the ignition with a garter on the way, and the resulting publicity sold the machine. Ford did not exist until 1903 and the Model T not until 1908.

## 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 car or the lightbulb?

the lightbulb, by 7 years — 1879 against 1886.

### When did the car start?

1886. Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen.

### 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/)