A Baltimore dentist fascinated by light bulbs left behind the world's largest collection of them when he died May 7, 2002, at the age of 79. Dr. Hugh Francis Hicks, creator and curator of the Mount Vernon Museum of Incandescent Lighting, passed away after a heart attack at a local hospital.

Hicks' collection included over 75,000 bulbs, about 10,000 exhibited in the museum in his basement since 1964. They ranged from the first bulbs manufactured by Thomas Edison, to evil headlamps exploited by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in his official limousine, to today's energy-savers.

Hick's lifelong career as a dentist helped pay the electric bill.

[05/19/2002]