A photograph of the Centennial Light pendant lamp in Livermore, California (2016).
The Centennial Lamp created by the company Shelby is recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest burning lamp. 124 years later, it’s still on.
Commercial incandescent lamps emerged at the end of the 19th century, becoming an essential presence in homes around the world. One of them, manufactured at the beginning of the 20th century, it remains lit to this day — and, completing 124 years of operation in 2025, it will be able to continue shining after we have all disappeared from this world.
Guinness World Records, the 60-watt bulb became known as Centennial Lampbeing the one that has been operating the longest in the world, lighting a Fire Department unit in the North American state of California. It is rarely turned off and emits a weak but persistent orange light.
The first commercial lamps lasted a long time, and the Centennial Lamp is “living” proof. Currently, one records its operation and, in 2016, a New Yorker magazine confirmed that the object survived three different webcams. In 2015, the Livermore Firefighters Foundation, the city where it is based, celebrated its more than one million hours of service.
In 2021, engineer Martin Kykya, president of MAK Electro-optics, studied the anatomy of the bulb and predicted that if it continues to emit 4 watts or less, the lamp will be able to continue working for another 100 years. The artifact gained notoriety in the 1970s, when an article in the local Herald News highlighted its record-setting nature.
The lamp was reportedly presented to the Livermore fire department in 1901, having changed locations several times. It was only turned off when necessary or by accident, such as in cases of power outages.
Modern light bulbs have a shorter lifespan, but this is usually due to the frequency with which they are turned on and off, exposing the tungsten filament inside to rapid expansion and contraction.
The Centenary Lamp was created by the company Shelby and contains a carbon filament, which is much more resistant. Currently, tungsten is the favorite, as it tolerates greater exposure to oxygen. The lamp’s glass bulb is handcrafted and holds the thick carbon filament in a vacuum where it is protected, breaking records year after year.
No one knows whether a modern LED lamp, like smart lights, could surpass the longevity of this artifact, but with an estimated maximum lifespan of 100,000 hours — just over a decade — this technology still has a long way to go to surpass the Centennial Lamp.
