When you think of the light bulb, many people think of Thomas Edison. But few people know that inventor Lewis Howard Latimer created a method for producing carbon filaments that far surpassed Edison's paper filament, which burned out very quickly. Lewis Latimer's invention made the light bulb possible in everyday life, completely transforming the industry.
He was born on September 4, 1848 in Chelsea, Massachusetts and is the youngest of four children of George and Rebecca Latimer. George Latimer worked as a slave for various owners in Virginia until the end of 1842.
In 1880 Latimer was hired as an executive assistant and design draftsman by Hiram Maxim, chief engineer of Electro-Dynamic Light Company,company founded in 1878 who is the first to distribute electricity and to manufacture incandescent light bulbs. It is in this context that he will develop an electric light bulb with a carbon filament, in 1881. We then send it to London, where he is responsible for setting up a factory incandescent lamps for theElectro-Dynamic Light Company.