First electric arc lamp

In 1808, inventor Humphry Davy (UK, 1778–1829) took to the stage in the main lecture theatre of the Royal Institution in London, England. Using the RI's 2000-element battery-power source, he demonstrated the concept of an electric arc lamp using carbon electrodes. By passing current between carbon electrodes protected within a glass bulb, a bright "arc" of light could be seen – to the delight of eminent scientists present at this historic demonstration. Although this was a means of producing light from a compact light source, it would be a further 80 years before a metal filament was encapsulated in an evacuated glass bulb to produce a practical light bulb.