History
Early U.S. lamp manufacturers used different and incompatible bases. The Thomson-Houston Electric Company used a threaded stud at the bottom of the socket, and a flat contact ring. The Sawyer-Mann or Westinghouse base used a spring clip acting on grooves in the bulb base, and a contact stud at the bottom of the lamp. By about 1908, the Edison base was most common, with the others falling out of use.
In response to Edison's patent, Reginald Fessenden invented the bi-pin connector for the 1893 World's Fair. Other lamp bases include the bayonet mount and wedge base.
Read more about this topic: Edison Screw
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