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Prof. Biden Claims a Black Man Named Lewis Latimer Invented the Light Bulb, Not a White Guy Named 'Edison.'
PJ Media ^ | 09/04/2020 | Matt Margolis

Posted on 09/04/2020 7:26:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Joe Biden, who claims he wants to fact-check Donald Trump in real time during the presidential debates, told a real whopper on Thursday during his visit to Kenosha.

“People fear that’s, which, that which is different. We gotta, for example, why in God’s name don’t we teach history in history classes? A black man invented the light bulb, not a white guy named Edison.”

Now Biden claims Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb. pic.twitter.com/ykQOFqjS0S

— Matt Margolis 🇺🇸 (@mattmargolis) September 4, 2020

Fact check: False.

Make no mistake about it, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. Joe Biden presumably was referring to Lewis H. Latimer, a former slave who worked as a researcher under Edison, who, three years after Edison patented the incandescent light bulb, patented a more efficient way of manufacturing carbon filaments, which were used in Edison’s bulb design. Fake internet rumors have been circulating for some time now suggesting that Latimer is the actual inventor of the light bulb and even the telephone.

Apparently, fake internet rumors are where Joe Biden gets his history lessons.

And the Left wonders why we don’t like them tearing down statues. When they’re not destroying history, they’re trying to rewrite it.

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: again; joebiden; lewislatimer; lightbulb; thomasedison
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1 posted on 09/04/2020 7:26:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I believe he got sued over that patent.


2 posted on 09/04/2020 7:28:03 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: SeekAndFind

In your guts, you know Joe’s nuts.


3 posted on 09/04/2020 7:28:59 AM PDT by Darteaus94025 (Can't have a Liberal without a Lie)
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To: SeekAndFind

I am thinking that Biden threw that line in to change the subject from the riots and his health.

Trump does this routinely, and no votes will change over this.


4 posted on 09/04/2020 7:29:39 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: SeekAndFind

If Biden wins the presidency, this will be The Narrative in all American K-12 history books, with Edison’s name being purged everywhere, and tossed down the memory hole, his inventions ascribed to blacks, browns or Asians.


5 posted on 09/04/2020 7:29:41 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Baby!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Give Latimer credit where credit is due, he did invent a better filament. However, he did NOT invent the light bulb. Man, anything for politics. Anything...


6 posted on 09/04/2020 7:30:11 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: Sacajaweau

Edison bought patents to litigate against other inventors.


7 posted on 09/04/2020 7:31:09 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Joe Biden- "First thing I'd do is repeal those Trump tax cuts." (May 4th, 2019))
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To: SeekAndFind

Oh , I thought he invented the Black Light


8 posted on 09/04/2020 7:31:20 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: SeekAndFind

i don’t believe Edison invented the light bulb but developed the filament that was not only efficacious but economically feasible.


9 posted on 09/04/2020 7:32:55 AM PDT by avital2
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To: butlerweave
Oh , I thought he invented the Black Light

You're thinking of the crack pipe, sounds similar.

10 posted on 09/04/2020 7:32:57 AM PDT by 1Old Pro (#openupstateny)
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To: SeekAndFind
OK,so Lattimer contributed to the light bulb to improve it. Very admirable for certain. But that's not the same as inventing it. Plugs caught in yet another lie (is anyone keep a spreadsheet on his lies?).
11 posted on 09/04/2020 7:33:15 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (The Rats Just Can't Get Over The Fact That They Lost A Rigged Election!)
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To: SeekAndFind

The light saber was invented in Wakanda.


12 posted on 09/04/2020 7:36:27 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: SeekAndFind

That’s all fine, but what kind of racist nonsense is it to incite people with “Hey it wasn’t invented by that (evil stupid) white guy, it was a (better darker skinned) black dude”!


13 posted on 09/04/2020 7:38:46 AM PDT by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: SeekAndFind

So he worked with Hiram Maxim? He should be held accountable for the death of millions killed by automatic weapons by liberal logic.


14 posted on 09/04/2020 7:41:16 AM PDT by CrazyIvan (The Democrat party. A collaboration of Cloward-Piven and Dunning-Kruger.)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

Yep. He was also employed by Edison for years after that.

BTW, Latimer, the son of a former slave, proves that one generation is enough for anyone who isn’t content to just keep doing what people have been doing.

People who kept on doing the same thing, if white or black, kept getting the same results year after year ... which is why the percentage of poorly educated dirt farmers to escape poverty remains low if white or black. But for those driven to step out and who wouldn’t be stopped even the real oppression of the past couldn’t keep them from getting ahead, or even getting rich.

This, I reason, is why Booker Washington apparently felt a particular distaste for blacks who made their living agitating over injustice ... for such people depend for their pay on folks doing exactly the same things that have failed them time and again so that they can call the consequences stuff like systemic racism.


15 posted on 09/04/2020 7:41:29 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: avital2

You are correct. Electric light bulbs come in various types. Arc lamps, fluorescent, neon, etc. Electric light bulbs existed before Edison’s innovations, but weren’t really affordable or practical.


16 posted on 09/04/2020 7:44:29 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Darteaus94025

Now that is the perfect slogan!


17 posted on 09/04/2020 7:56:41 AM PDT by 3ZZZ
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To: SeekAndFind; All

Latimer was never a slave.

His parents had been slaves. They fled to Massachusetts and were protected by abolitionists.


18 posted on 09/04/2020 8:01:21 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I thought it was a joke when I heard it this morning, but then I saw the video of Biden looking senile while he wore a mask speaking in Wisconsin.


19 posted on 09/04/2020 8:06:25 AM PDT by fireman15
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To: SeekAndFind
Well there is this though:

Latimer

In 1880, after moving to Bridgeport, Connecticut, Latimer was hired as the assistant manager and draftsman for U.S. Electric Lighting Company owned by Hiram Maxim. Maxim was the chief rival to Thomas Edison, the man who invented the electric light bulb. The light was composed of a glass bulb which surrounded a carbon wire filament, generally made of bamboo, paper or thread. When the filament was burned inside of the bulb (which contained almost no air), it became so hot that it actually glowed.

Maxim greatly desired to improve on Edison’s light bulb and focused on the main weakness of Edison’s bulb – their short life span (generally only a few days.) Latimer set out to make a longer lasting bulb. Latimer devised a way of encasing the filament within an cardboard envelope which prevented the carbon from breaking and thereby provided a much longer life to the bulb and hence made the bulbs less expensive and more efficient. This enabled electric lighting to be installed within homes and throughout streets.

Latimer’s abilities in electric lighting became well known and soon he was sought after to continue to improve on incandescent lighting as well as arc lighting. Eventually, as more major cities began wiring their streets for electric lighting, Latimer was dispatched to lead the planning team. He helped to install the first electric plants in Philadelphia, New York City and Montreal and oversaw the installation of lighting in railroad stations, government building and major thoroughfares in Canada, New England and London.

So I guess one wonders who's version of history is correct.

20 posted on 09/04/2020 8:08:05 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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