Fun Fact .... the original filament light bulb is STILL burning!! ...
Yes, the famous Centennial Light bulb is still burning today.
Details of the BulbLocation: Fire Station 6 at 4550 East Avenue in Livermore, California.
Age: It was first turned on in June 1901, making it over 125 years old.
Manufacturer: Hand-blown with a carbon filament by the Shelby Electric Company in Ohio during the late 1890s.
Current Output: Though originally rated at a higher wattage, it now glows very dimly at about 4 watts—the light level of a small nightlight.
Why Has It Lasted So Long?
Thick Filament: Its carbon filament is much thicker than those used in later incandescent bulbs
.Low Power Operation: Running on a low-wattage circuit reduces stress on the internal parts.
Continuous Power: It has rarely been switched off, avoiding the thermal shock of frequent power cycles that break modern filaments.
When the old Fire Station was shut down and they moved to a new one, they created a special circuit and procedures to keep the bulb continuously powered during the removal, relocation and re-installation in order to avoid that thermal shock. I suspect they have it now on a circuit that has an uninterruptible power supply and backup power generation, which is something that a Fire Station would have anyway.