In spite of all the focus on Edison, his was only one in a long series of electric lights. The first electric light was invented by Sir Humphry Davy in 1801. Unlike modern incandescent and fluorescent lights, it was a arc light. A large battery of electric cells was connected to carbon electrodes. When the electricity jumped the gap between the electrodes, it produced a bright light. The light did not last long, as it burned up the carbon quickly, but it was the first step towards today's electric lighting.

Sir Humphry Davy made many important, scientific discoveries in the fields of electricity and chemistry, as well as employing and training another famous scientist, Michael Faraday.