Word: lightly
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...there be light! Oct. 22 marks the 130th anniversary of Thomas Edison's first test of the incandescent lightbulb, the initial spark of a revolution that would electrify the world...
...spread of electric power in the U.S. Edison was behind the creation of the first commercial power plant in 1882; New York City had electricity 10 years later. By the late 1930s, the Rural Electrification Administration, one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, had delivered electric lighting to nearly every corner of the country. Development on the bulb didn't stop either: researchers have modified Edison and Swan's design further, refining the filament by using tungsten and filling the vacuum with gas, both of which increase the life span of a bulb. Still, even modern bulbs...
...decision to regulate which bulbs consumers can use has drawn some criticism. CFLs emit light in a different spectrum than that of their incandescent counterparts. Light produced by CFLs is "cooler" - tinged a light blue or green - than the yellowish glow of an incandescent, and many people complain that the effect is less aesthetically pleasing. CFLs raise concerns because there is a danger of mercury exposure if the bulbs break, which makes disposal tricky. And some people allege that long-term use of fluorescent light causes health problems, though experts are largely skeptical of the claim...
...Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL in every U.S. household would be the environmental equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road, according to the U.S Department of Energy. The U.S. plans to follow Europe's lead and outlaw incandescents in 2012. Still, at least one light will stay on: the Centennial Light in Livermore, Calif., has been shining continuously in the same firehouse since 1901, making it the longest-burning bulb on the planet...
...this summer resulted in the arrests of numerous local and state public officials. Corzine, who is sinking an estimated $25 million of his own money into the campaign, has accused Christie of politicizing the attorney's office and has attacked Christie with one ad that not so subtly makes light of his generous girth; the unflattering video is matched with the claim that the former U.S. Attorney "threw his weight around" to get out of traffic tickets...