The General Electric Co is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company. It was founded in the USA in 1892 when Thomas Edison (1847-1931), famous for inventing the electric light bulb in 1878, merged his Edison Electric Light Co with the Thompson-Houston Electric Co. The General Electric Co now operates in more than 100 countries and employs 340,000 people worldwide. The registered office of the Company in the UK is in London. The Company was incorporated in 1961 with the registration number 00680555.