---
title: "Which came first, the hamburger or the lightbulb?"
description: "the hamburger vs the lightbulb: the lightbulb came first, by 21 years — 1879 against 1900. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-lightbulb/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the hamburger or the lightbulb?

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

1879 — 21 years before the hamburger

the lightbulb came first, by 21 years. Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours.

## Side by side

|  | the hamburger | the lightbulb |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1900 | 1879 |
| Date | — | 1879-10-22 |
| Category | food | invention |
| What happened | Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904. | Edison's carbon filament lamp burned for over 13 hours. |

## the hamburger

At least four places claim it. Charlie Nagreen said he flattened a meatball between bread at the Seymour Fair in Wisconsin in 1885; the Menches brothers claimed the same year at the Erie County Fair; Louis' Lunch in New Haven claims 1900; and Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas is credited with introducing it at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair. No contemporary document settles it. What is documented is the Hamburg steak — chopped beef, no bun — on American menus from the 1870s.

## 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 hamburger or the lightbulb?

the lightbulb, by 21 years — 1879 against 1900.

### When did the hamburger start?

1900. Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904.

### When did the lightbulb start?

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

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- [the hamburger or television?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-television/)
- [the hamburger or Nintendo?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-nintendo/)
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- [Fanta or the hamburger?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-hamburger/)
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## Sources

- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)