The mystery of the lamp that has been lit since 1901

Every year hundreds of curious people pass through the city to see the lamp known as the Cententinal Light, which was lit in 1901 and turned off only four times because of renovations.

The Origin of the Light bulb

In 1971 a local journalist Mike Dunstan took an interest in the lamp.

All firemen claimed it had never been shut down.

Through interviews and consulting archives, Dunstan concluded that the lamp had been lit since 1901 and that the lamp was a gift from businessman Dennis F. Bernal for the fire station.

Its manufacturer is the Shelby Electric Company, where a French engineer, Adolphe Alexandre Chailette, had come to work in 1896.

Chaillet knew how to improve the efficiency and life of incandescent lamps.

However, this technique did not convince companies, which preferred to make lamps with an expiration date, possibly under a thousand hours of work to sell more.

Instead, Centinal Light has worked for over a million hours.

What's her secret?

There are some theories that explain why the lamp produced by Challette has been able to survive so long.

Some claim that the lamp is the result of a unique and secret process.

Others believe that since it has been lit and turned off very little, it has produced a much slower burn that has prevented it from melting.

While recently, there are those who believe that his life span is due to the fact that he was handmade, with much more care.

Because of her life span, the lamp was placed in the Guinness Book of Records.