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First Portable Flame
In China, tiny sticks were gathered and were covered in flammable chemicals that would catch fire with a spark. These sticks came in handy when starting fires. -
The First Flint Light
In the 1600 century, the flintock pistol was was made. It was invented for the European Armies and also for hunthing. They caught fire by a spark and gunpowder. This invention of the flintlock was an idea to start fires and not just to fire bullets. -
Discovery Of Phosphorous
A man named Hennig Brand discoverd the chemical/ element phosphorus. He discoverd phosphorus by trying to turn lead into gold by putting it in urine. Phosphorus is a chemical that catches fire when struck on a rough surface. This chemical is what is used on the head of matches. -
The First Lighter
A man named Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner invented the first called lighter. It was called "Dobereiner's Lamp." It was named after himself. This invention was not for carrying through the dark. It was more like a lightbulb for inside the house and was also for lighting cigarettes. This item may have help in the dark and for smokers, but it was very dangerous. Instead of burning off of oil or butane, it used to hydrogen to stay lit. -
The Diamond Brand
This brand of matches is the largest producing match company in the United States. They were created by a man named Ohio Columbus Barber who named his company after the diamond shaped head of his produced matches. When he first started his his company he would make them by hand. -
World War 1
During World War 1, the use of matches help soldiers see in the dark. But unfornately the first light of the matches gave a big flash. These flashes would be a dead give away to their enemies. By the end of the war, engineers started designing something lightweight, holdable, and something that would help them see without giving away their position. -
The First Flint Wheels
Two years after the war, smoking started becoming very popular. Smokers would carry around a gas lighter that was light by a flint wheel. These lighters became very popular. -
The Zippo
After a decade of the first flint wheel lighters, a man named George G. Blaisdell came across an Austrailian-brand, flint wheel lighter that could be motified and improved on. He designed it so that it was comfortable to hold, made the fuel chamber better, added a hinged cover for the top, and a windproof barrier around the wick. -
The Zippo in World War 2
The Zippo lighter became so popular during World War 2. Soldiers would carry around there lighter not only for lighting there cigarettes, but also because they were very entertaining to have. The Zippo's top lid was a very popular feature because people would always find different ways on how to flip open, then light the lighter. During the war these lighters made the soldiers feel like they had something special to themselves. -
The Butane Lighter
The Butane Lighter became very popular during the production of the many other lighters. All of the lighter companies before butane used the fuel know as naphtha, which comes from petroleum. The Butane Lighter ran off the fuel butane. This fuel gave the ability to control flame intensity, the wick didn't have to be changed anymore, and the smell of butane wasn't as strong as the smell of naphtha. -
The Disposable Lighter
On 1973 a company named BIC made the disposable lighter. THis company was founded in the year 1945 by a man named Marcel Bich who started his company my creatinig and selling pens all around France. This lighter became popular because it was easy to use, you didn't have to refill it you just had to throw it away, and it required two steps to light it which made it more child proof. -
Using Everything
Today we use almost any lighter or match to start a fire or light a cigar or cigarette. Matches come in handy, especially for Boy Scouts, because waterproof matches are good to have when camping, disposable lighters are good to have because you can buy them and use them untill they run out, and the metal lighters for when we can have something a longtime and save more money than buying disposable ones.
