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Longest-Burning Light Bulb-"The Centennial
Ligh" sets world record
[May 5] LIVERMORE, CA,USA-- A 5-watt carbon filament bulb
burning in the Fire Department, Livermore, south Alameda County,
California, which has been burning since 1901, sets the world
record for the Longest Burning Light Bulb.
Photo:The
low-watt firehouse bulb has been burning continuously since
1901. Its carbon filament is protected by an airtight seal.
(enlarge
photo)
The Livermore lightbulb never gets turned
off, which many suspect is the secret to its longevity.
The average bulb last for 750-1,000 hours.
Livermore's bulb has burned for nearly a million hours. 
Photo: Hanging 18 feet above the floor at
the end of a black cloth-covered cord, the little light with
the filament the width of a No. 2 pencil lead is unprotected
by any lampshade.
Firefighters won't even dust it. Touch it, jokes
one captain, and "you get your fingers chopped off."
(enlarge
photo)
As objet d'art and enduring symbol
of American reliability and ingenuity, it's been lauded by
senators and presidents.
Ex-firefighter
Tom Bramell:"I believe the bulb has stayed alive so many
years because the makers gave it a perfect seal, so no air
gets inside the bulb to help disintegrate the carbon filament.
This bulb operates in a vacuum and it doesn't burn hot. That's
the secret."
In 1901, when the tiny bulb was first screwed
into place inside a so-called hose cart house, it cast its
light on a simpler era.
Back then, horse-pulled carts carried water to
fires. The bulb burned day and night, hanging at eye level
from a 20-foot cord. Its job: to break the darkness so firefighters
responding to calls wouldn't have to fumble to light the wicks
of their kerosene lanterns.
Manufactured by the Shelby Electric Co. of Shelby,
Ohio, the bulb soon outlived its maker, which closed in 1914.
Later, in the main firehouse, it illuminated
more modern rigs as horses were replaced by gas-fed engines.
When the bulb turned 100 in 2001, Livermore officials
threw a birthday party that drew 600 celebrators, many in
turn-of-the-century attire.
Now they look forward to a 200th birthday
bash.
"You want that light on," said Deputy
Fire Chief Jeff Zolfarelli, the new bulb keeper. "As long
as it doesn't go out on your watch. Nobody wants to be onboard
when that happens."
Longest
Continuously Burning Lightbulb:
Address: 4550 East Ave., Livermore, CA
Directions: East side of downtown. I-580
exit south on Vasco Rd. After about 1.5 miles, turn west on
East Ave. The bulb is about a mile on the right, at Fire Station
#6, just west of Loyola Way.
To contact them directly you may call the
LPFD at (925) 454-2361.
"The
Centennial Ligh"
Live webcam
The
Second longest bulb:
On 21 Sept 1908 a stagehand named Barry Burke
at the Byers Opera House, Fort Worth, Texas screwed in a new
light bulb and that it was still burning. The building was
renamed the Palace Theatre, and the light was known as the
Palace Bulb ever since. It now resides in the Stockyards Museum,
and will have been burning for 100 years Sept of 2008.
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