Lamp

Lamp, implement that produces light and usually heat using one of 3 methods: combustion of fats or oils, combustion of gases, or electricity. Fat lamps burn fat, oil, paraffin, or grease utilizing a simple wick that pulls the fuel up to the flame. These were the first lamps, dating from prehistoric times, when they were made of hollowed rocks with grass wicks. Gas lamps, dating from 1792, produce light when air mixes with such gases as natural gas, butane, or acetylene. Electric lamps, developed about 1879, utilize electrical energy by directing it through a glass bulb containing inert gas that charges a tungsten filament.