The bulb in pensioner Roger Dyball's porch had been burning for 100 years
The DC Osram bulb was manufactured in July 1912, weeks after the sinking of the Titanic, and has shone ever since.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 74-year-old man, who inherited the bulb when he moved into his home 45 years ago, said that it seemed it would burn for ever.
“It’s absolutely brilliant. At this rate it will burn for ever,” a major newspaper quoted him as saying.
“We have just left it there with all its original fittings and it has never gone out,” he said.
These days light bulbs last just 1,000 hours on average. But Dyball’s was built to last.
“We think it must have been hand-made. It has a very thick filament, which is why it has not gone out at all. We just keep using it,” he said.
The bulb intrigued Roger when he arrived at his home in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 1967.
Eventually the father-of-two jotted down its serial numbers and contacted the manufacturers.
They revealed that the 230-volt, 55-watt bulb came off a production line 100 years ago this month.
That makes it one of the oldest bulbs in the world.
But retired Birds Eye worker Roger and his wife Patricia, 74, have no plans to part with it.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
