On this day in 1816, a safety lamp to prevent explosions in coal mines was tested in England for the first time. The Davy lamp, invented by Sir Humphrey Davy, had a wire mesh screen surrounding the wick of the lamp. The holes in the mesh allow light to shine out but were too fine for fire to escape its confines to ignite pockets of flammable gasses, such as methane, which can be found in mines.
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