Unless you're talking about diamonds, Twinkies or vampires, lasting forever usually isn't in the cards. Yet all over the world -- and universe -- there are machines, engineering feats and pieces of meat that never got the memo that we all have a use-by date. If we didn't know any better, we'd think these things were actually taunting us with their tenacity.

5 The Light Bulb That Has Been Shining for 110 Years

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In 1901, the Livermore Fire Department in California decided it was time to try that newfangled "electricity" thing all the kids were jabbering about. So they installed electrical lighting in the station, complete with modern light bulbs and everything.

And 110 years later, one of those original bulbs is still doing its thing.

Via Cenennialbulb.org

"OK, now point to it; otherwise, people won't be able to tell the bulb from the ceiling."

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When you look at the statistics, this is truly mind-boggling: Old-style incandescent light bulbs should only last a few thousand hours, while newer bulbs can go up to 25,000 hours with moderate use. The Livermore bulb, by comparison, has been in near-continuous use for over 110 years, and hasn't been turned off since 1976. That time period alone is well over 300,000 hours.

Via Cenennialbulb.org

"Sometimes I miss the days when we fought fires instead of worshiping the Incandescent Savior."

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In the early '70s, a reporter (who was apparently going through one hell of a slow news day) found out about the old bulb and started digging around. Instead of printing a half-assed article filled with light bulb jokes, he decided to go all out and contact the Guinness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It or Not and General Electric. When they all verified that the bulb was actually the oldest functioning one in the world, the town went nuts, even giving the bulb a police escort when it was switched between the old fire station and a new one in 1976.