Swan continued to develop his invention and in 1880 his friend William Armstrong's house at Cragside, near Rothbury in Northumberland, was the first private home to be lit by electric light bulbs.

But first, Edison established the Edison Electric Light Co., assigned 2,500 shares to himself and sold 500 shares to investors including William Vanderbilt. Edison’s team made two major innovations.

The first electric light bulb, invented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1879 and patented on January 27, 1880. Welgos/Archive Photos/Getty Images. Latimer’s improvements ...

The city of Scranton took its first step toward earning its reputation as the Electric City on Dec. 6, 1880. On that date, electric lights were introduced at the Dickson Locomotive Works. This was … ...

Among the many “Butte brags” is the claim that Butte was the first — or third, or whatever — city to be electrified. Like so many claims, there’s some truth ...