The Coal Miner's Lamp...

Carbide lamps were first developed in the 1890's. This "Crestella" carbide lamp has a removable base which is filled with pellets of calcium carbide. A brass wing-nut tap on the top released some water from the top reservoir into the lower carbide chamber. This caused the formation of acetylene gas, which fed out of the chamber to a burner tip. The gas was then lit and produced a bright white light, which was intensified and directed by the reflector. This lamp would burn for several hours.

After a methane gas explosion that killed 54 miners in the 1932 Moweaqua Coal Mine disaster in the USA, the use of these naked-flame lamps was mostly discontinued in the coal mining industry but they were still used in other mines where there was minimal risk of explosion.
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