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Acquired by us directly from the descendant of Edison?s chief laboratory machinist John Kruesi, and never before offered for sale; This invention led to the lighting of New York City, the United States, and then globeThe Smithsonian displays an artifact with the same provenance: A lamp used to illuminate Menlo Park on December 31,1879, when Edison introduced his invention to the world. It is currently on in the exhibition Lighting A Revolution at the National Museum of American History.Thomas Edison propelled the world out of the gaslight era and into the electric age. With dreams of lighting up entire cites, Edison lined up financial backing, assembled a group of brilliant scientists and technicians, and applied his genius to the challenge of creating an effective and affordable electric lamp. With unflagging determination, he and his team tried out thousands of possibilities, convinced that every failure brought them one step closer to success. They succeeded where so many others had failed. On January 27, 1880, just a month after exhibiting his invention, Edison received the historic patent embodying the principles of his incandescent lamp that paved the way for the universal domestic use of electric light.This changed the way everyone lived. Work could start early or continue past dusk. The evenings could be times of activity and recreation. The day no longer had to be confined to daylight hours or time huddled around the heat and light of the fire. It remains among the greatest advancements of the modern age. But a light bulb without a system of electricity delivery would remain nothing more than a lab experiment.John Kruesi had been apprenticed as a locksmith in Switzerland, and migrated to the United States where he settled in Newark, New Jersey. There he met Thomas Edison, who was impressed with the young Swiss immigrant and took a liking to him, employing him in his workshop starting in 1872. He became Edison's head machinist through his Newark and Menlo Park periods, responsible for translating Edison's numerous rough sketches into working devices. Since constructing and testing models was central to Edison's method of inventing, Kruesi's skill in doing this was critical to Edison's success as an inventor. Historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel summed up Kruesi's remarkable ability:?If the devices that emerged [from Kruesi's workshop] didn't work, it was because they were bad ideas, not because they were badly made. And when the ideas were good, as in the case of the phonograph, the product of Kruesi's shop would prove it.? Kruesi was involved in many of Edison's key inventions, including the quadruplex telegraph, the carbon microphone, phonograph, incandescent light bulb and system of electric lighting. Kruesi was particularly proud of building the first phonograph.Inventing a light bulb did not bring it into the home. You had to have a way to deliver the electricity needed to light the bulb. So Edison set to work creating a system to light the world. W.S. Andrews, one of Edison?s first employees, describes the system in great detail. ?In 1880, Mr. Edison laid out a system of underground distribution. from his laboratory in Menlo Park, to supply 1000 lamps, placed on wooden lamp-posts along the streets and roads of the village of Menlo Park and also in the dwellings. As no electric circuits had ever before been placed underground, there was absolutely no experience to guide in the proper laying and insulation of the conductors?? Conductors ?were composed of No. 10 BWG copper wire? the system was a simple two conductor, multiple circuit? After a few weeks of experiments, the best of the insulating compounds was selected for use. This compound was composed of refined Trinidad asphaltum, mixed with oxidized linseed oil to give it the right consistency, and a little paraffine and beeswax were added to make the material smoother.?The wires insulated and laid, Edison set to test the first ever underground power system.
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