Incandescent light bulb is 'bright spot' in state's history

It was with great pride for our amazing Garden State that I read an article recently about the incandescent light bulb potentially being phased out in favor of more efficient fluorescent lighting. We live in the land of innovation, so this shouldn't surprise us.

The incandescent light bulb was one of the most important inventions of our time, perfected for mass use by Thomas Edison in the 19th century here in New Jersey! We may be sad to see it go, but as New Jerseyans we can be proud of the important role Edison and his life-improving inventions made to our state and world.

Christie Street in Edison was the first street to be illuminated by the now 125-year-old light bulb, and is the location of the 131-foot Edison Tower. Roselle, New Jersey was the first village in the world to use an overhead electric wiring system to light the entire town in 1883. And as we know, eventually, nearly every place on the planet was changed by this one invention.

Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren over the years have learned about electric light and Edison's inventions by visiting the Edison National Historic sites in Edison and West Orange. Many fourth-grade students in the Celebrate NJ! school program choose Thomas Edison as the topic of their research project as they write about what makes New Jersey great. The invention of the incandescent light bulb is a "bright spot" in New Jersey's history and is one more reason we should celebrate our great state.

Celebrate NJ! invites everyone who has a reason to Celebrate NJ! to log on to www.CelebrateNJ.org and enter that reason as part of the "365 Reasons to Celebrate NJ! campaign.

Karen Hatcher

president, Celebrate NJ!

Bradley Beach