---
title: "Which came first, the fax machine or the lightbulb?"
description: "the fax machine vs the lightbulb: the fax machine came first, by 36 years — 1843 against 1879. What happened in each case."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fax-machine-vs-lightbulb/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the fax machine or the lightbulb?

**Which came first, the fax machine or the lightbulb?: the fax machine**

1843 — 36 years before the lightbulb

the fax machine came first, by 36 years. Alexander Bain patented an electric printing telegraph that sent images.

## Side by side

|  | the fax machine | the lightbulb |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1843 | 1879 |
| Date | — | 1879-10-22 |
| Category | invention | invention |
| What happened | Alexander Bain patented an electric printing telegraph that sent images. | Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours. |

## the fax machine

Bain's 1843 patent covered a device that scanned a raised metal image with a stylus and reproduced it at the far end of a wire — a fax machine in principle. Giovanni Caselli ran a commercial pantelegraph service between Paris and Lyon from 1865, sending signatures and handwriting eleven years before Bell patented the telephone. The fax is not merely older than the telephone; it is older than the American Civil War.

## 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 fax machine or the lightbulb?

the fax machine, by 36 years — 1843 against 1879.

### When did the fax machine start?

1843. Alexander Bain patented an electric printing telegraph that sent images.

### When did the lightbulb start?

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

## Related pages

- [Big Ben or the fax machine?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/big-ben-vs-fax-machine/)
- [Big Ben or the lightbulb?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/big-ben-vs-lightbulb/)
- [the Eiffel Tower or the lightbulb?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/eiffel-tower-vs-lightbulb/)
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- [the bicycle or the fax machine?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/bicycle-vs-fax-machine/)
- [the bicycle or the lightbulb?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/bicycle-vs-lightbulb/)
- [the fax machine or photography?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fax-machine-vs-photograph/)
- [the fax machine or the telephone?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fax-machine-vs-telephone/)
- [the fax machine or television?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fax-machine-vs-television/)
- [the lightbulb or the Statue of Liberty?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/lightbulb-vs-statue-of-liberty/)
- [the lightbulb or photography?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/lightbulb-vs-photograph/)

## Sources

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