On June 18, the world's oldest-known working light bulb reaches another milestone, and will begin its 110th year of operation.
The bulb holds the Guinness World Record, and has been illuminating local fire stations in Livermore, California since 1901, the year Queen Victoria died.
Lynn Owens, who heads the light bulb's centennial committee, told Time.com: 'Nobody knows how it's possible. It is a 60-watt bulb and it's only turned on for about four watts, but nobody knows why it keeps burning.
'We've had scientists from all over the country look at this light bulb'.
Time notes that the bulb has had a few dark patches over its long years. It had some 'initial glitches' during its first year, 'a fraught week in 1937 and some random power outages all the way up to 1970s'.
The longest time the Guinness World Record-holding bulb has ever been turned off for is just a week.
The famous bulb had originally been donated to the fire station, and was made by Adolphe Chailet, a competitor of Thomas Edison.
The light bulb has a fan club with thousands of members and its own website.
Dangling above the fire engines, people come for hundreds and thousands of miles to see the diminutive symbol.
