IT IS BETTER TO LIGHT A SINGLE SHELBY ELECTRIC COMPANY BULB THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS

The average incandescent light bulb (the old-fashioned kind which is being banned by the US government, not the modern swirly kind manufactured in China) lasts from about 750 to 1000 hours. However, there has been one carbon-filament bulb made by the Shelby Electric Company which has been illuminating the firehouse in Livermore, California for over one million hours. Known as the Centennial Bulb since 2001 (for a reason which will very quickly be apparent), it has been glowing since 1901 and is still shining brightly.

Well, actually, it really is sort of shining dimly. It started its long life as a 60-watter, but it currently (get the pun?) is drawing only 4 watts.

The Centennial Bulb has been recognized as the oldest functioning bulb in the world by Guinness Book of World Records and other entities who are into recognizing points of light, including then-President George W. Bush and the City of Shelby, Ohio. With brief interruptions,* it has been burning continuously.

The Livermore Fire Department takes its bulb seriously. The bulb has its own power supply to avoid current surges should the regular generator kick on (I know that this is a dangling preposition, but just live with it). The bulb has its own very comprehensive website, which includes a "BulbCam" which provides the fascinated viewer with constantly updated views of the bulb as it hangs around and burns. The site also incorporates links to numerous articles and even TV appearances about the bulb.

Why has the bulb lasted so long? A possible guess would be that it is a happy mixture of various factors, including 1) the bulb was handmade (apparently by someone who knew what he was doing), 2) it is not normally turned off and on, 3) it is being protected by power surges, 4) it contains a thick carbon filament which burns at a relatively low temperature, and 5) it operates at a very low wattage (although when the power went off in 2013, the bulb burned brightly for a while at a retina-searing 60 watts until it subsided back to its usual 4).

Well, it may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but it certainly is the classiest.

*These interruptions include when the bulb was moved to a new firehouse in 1903, when it was off for a week during renovations of the firehouse in 1937, when it received a police and fire escort in 1976 to yet another new firehouse, and when the power went out for 9.5 hours in 2013.

By LPS.1 (Own work)
[CC0], via Wikimedia Commons