Light bulbs

Thomas Edison is revered by many schoolchildren as the father of invention. More precisely, he was present at the invention of many things we use today, for which he filed lots of patents: 1,093 in the US alone.

When the news got out that Edison was developing the first practical electric light bulb, not everyone was impressed.

A British Parliament Committee noted in 1878 that Edison's light bulb was "good enough for our Transatlantic friends... but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men."

Similarly, a chief engineer for the British Post Office said that the "subdivision of the electric light is an absolute ignis fatuus." In other words, a fairy tale. A sham.