A kerosene lamp uses kerosene as a fuel.
Until the middle of the 19th century, oil lamps that burned vegetable and animal fats were used for lighting purposes.
Kerosene lamps were brighter and eliminated the formation of deposits inside the lamp. Kerosene has a high fluidity and evaporation rate, which allowed for a simpler design of oil lamps.
The possibility of using kerosene for lighting was discovered in 1846 by the geologist Abraham Gesner from Nova Scotia. His invention helped save the whale population by providing an alternative to whale oil as a lighting fuel. Gesner founded the Kerosene Lighting Company in 1850, in Halifax, naming his invention “kerosene”.
The first kerosene lamps were produced in 1853. The Austrian pharmacists Ignacy Łukasiewicz and Jan Zeh began using kerosene in modified oil lamps.
Table kerosene lamps, made of glass and porcelain, became a part of the daily lives of wealthy individuals. Ordinary people used devices made from cast iron, iron, and other inexpensive materials.
Various works of literature from the 19th century mention the use of kerosene lamps. For instance, in Nikolai Eduardovich Heinze’s novel “The Hero of the End of the Century”, we find the following description,
