Lampochka Ilyich: there were also nebyli

This is almost a forgotten phrase now again on hearing. Many people are interested in this name, they ask about who invented Illich's light bulb? Let's try to figure it out.

About incandescent lamps

Remember the children's riddle about a pear that can not be eaten? So this is about her, about an ordinary incandescent lamp, which is often called in honor of Lenin. Who invented Illich's light bulb ? Well, certainly not the leader of the world proletariat! Although the incandescent lamps are almost a hundred and fifty years old, the question of their inventor is not so easy to answer.

The principle of the incandescent lamp is as follows. There is a glass bulb, in it - a radiator made of wire (more often tungsten). There is a current on the wire, it is heated, electrical energy is converted into light energy. Let there be light!

The work on the creation of such a device since the middle of the 19th century has been conducted all over the world, including in Russia. Scientists of many countries, experimenting with materials and forms of the spiral, created lamps, in varying degrees, close to one that is familiar to the modern consumer. In this case, the invention is usually patented, and the authors of such patents, probably, from a dozen. Whom to consider as the present author? In the west, more often than others, the inventor of incandescent lamps is called the American Edison. In Russia, they remember the names of Lodygin and Yablochkov, believing that their authors are so important to all inventions. By the way, we have talked about Lodygin not so long ago: in the USSR this name was preferred not to be remembered. Indeed, the most talented electrical engineer did not accept the revolution of 1917, he emigrated to the United States, where in 1923 he died. But what does Lenin have to do with all these learned bikes?

About the village of Kashino

This name is rather pathetic, propagandistic - a bulb Ilyich. The photos, still preserved in the old archives, help to recreate the typical rural atmosphere of the 1920s. A dull Russian village, mud, darkness, backwardness - and suddenly in the houses light illuminates. It's nothing that a lamp without a lampshade wretched hangs from the ceiling and hardly smolder. All the same it is a great blessing, this is the hope for progress, for the best. How can one not perpetuate the name of the one to whom the people owe their adherence to civilization?

The mention of Lenin's personality in the name of the lighting device arose after the leader's trip to the village of Kashino in 1920 to open a local power station. The villagers, previously inspired by his fiery speech at the Komsomol Congress, decided to electrify the village at their own expense. No sooner said than done! With the help of unused telegraph wires and a dynamo vehicle brought from Moscow by the residents' own forces, a local electric grid was built.

And then the arrival of the leader in Kashino, his conversations with the peasants, the speech at the rally was widely covered in the Soviet press. A large propaganda company has gone by. The term "Ilyich's bulb" has firmly entered the lexicon of the Soviet man.

What is GOELRO?

In the first post-revolutionary years, the electric theme was, perhaps, the most priority. In early 1920, the State Electrification Commission of Russia - GOELRO - was created to address the problem. Later, they talked about the GOELRO plan, which provided for not only the electrification of the country, but also the development of its economy as a whole. "Lampochka Ilyich" - a kind of symbol of this plan.

In the history of both the idea itself and its implementation, there are many blank spots. According to some reports, the plans for large-scale electrification of the country were considered even in tsarist times, and only the great expenses and difficulties of the First World War (1914-1918) did not allow them to get involved in their implementation. To really solve the problem, the country was able to start only in December 1920 after the approval of the GOELRO plan at the 9th All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

Plans and realities

The plan adopted at the Congress provided for not only electrification, but also the arrangement of Russia as a whole. The slogan was the words of the leader: "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country." Despite the utopian nature of his communist ideas, Lenin was perfectly aware of the importance of energy for state development.

The ambitious Bolshevik plan was successfully fulfilled and overfulfilled. New factories were laid, industrial territories were mastered (Donbass, Kuzbass), and, of course, a number of new power stations were constructed that made it possible to create an original energy frame of the USSR. A powerful impetus was given to the development of transport and communications, large-scale construction projects arose in several regions of the country. It is believed that it was the GOELRO plan that laid the foundation for industrialization, which enabled the country to move to a fundamentally different level of development. Nevertheless, even in the 1980s there were many settlements in the USSR where the "Ilyich bulb" was still just a dream.

Conclusion

The "revolutionary" name of a conventional lamp has not been relevant for many years, but recently it has sounded again. The reason - the emergence of a new generation of lighting equipment. Halogen, fluorescent, energy-saving, LED - what kind of lamps you will not find on sale now! In order not to get lost in this abundance, suitable terminology is important. "Lampochka Ilyich" is an old kind lamp, familiar to all of us. It is more correct, of course, to speak in another way: an incandescent lamp. Only boring it. And why neglect the names that are popular for more than a decade?