The first aknowleged report of a light emitting solid state diode was made in 1907 by a British experimenter named H. J. Round. However, no use of this discovery was made for several decades. Oleg Vladimirovich Losev independently published, in the Russian journal Telegrafiya i Telefoniya bez Provodov (Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony), an article named “Luminous carborundum detector and detection with crystals” . Losev’s work did not get noticed for tens of years.


The first usable LED was invented by Nick Holonyak, Jr., in 1962 while he was working at General Electric Company. The first LEDs were red and became commercially available in late 1960s. They were commonly used in replacements for incandescent indicators, and in seven-segment displays, first the use of LED´s was only in expensive equipment such as laboratory and electronics test equipment, then later the use of LED´s spread to such appliances as TVs, radios, telephones, calculators, and even watches. These red LEDs were bright enough only for use as indicators, as the light output was not enough to illuminate an area. Later, other colors
became widely available and also appeared in appliances and equipment. As the LED materials technology became more advanced, the light output was increased, and LEDs became bright enough to be used as a houshold light source.