On this episode of Our American Stories, Hiram Stevens Maxim is best known as the inventor of the Maxim machine gun, one of the first fully automatic weapons. But later in life, he made a surprising and controversial claim: that he, not Thomas Edison, had invented the light bulb.

According to Maxim, his work with electric lighting predated Edison’s breakthroughs, raising questions about who truly deserves credit for one of the most important inventions in modern history.

Our regular contributor, Ashley Hlebinsky, shares the story of the heated debate over the origins of the light bulb.

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