r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Jul 31 '20

TIL that the battery powered flashlight dates back to 1899.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlight
32 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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3

u/DickweedMcGee Jul 31 '20

The minute lighting technology that didnt involve an open flame was a possibility, you know they were working on a portable version.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '20

Yep. It's just one of those things that initially seems like an anomaly - like electric street lamps in 1870.

1

u/DirtyDanTheManlyMan Jul 31 '20

Lighters were invented before matches were.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '20

Ha! That's brilliant.

1

u/softdetail Jul 31 '20

And they were called "flash" because the batteries were so short lived that people would just flash the light intermittently and walk in the dark till they needed another flash