Editing Lighter (section)

==History==
[[File:Codex Loeffelholz F 27v - wheellock - rotated 90° CCW.png|thumb|Concept of a wall-mounted automatic [[wheellock]] lighter, that can be activated by opening a door from Löffelholz-Codex, Nuremberg 1505]]

The first lighters were converted [[flintlock pistol]]s that used gunpowder. In 1662, Turkish traveler [[Evliya Çelebi]] visited Vienna as a member of an Ottoman diplomatic mission, and admired the lighters being manufactured there: "Enclosed in a kind of tiny box are tinder, a steel, sulphur, and resinous wood. When struck just like a firearm wheel, the wood bursts into flame. This is useful for soldiers on campaign."<ref>Evliya Çelebi, ''Evliyâ Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi'' eds. Seyit Ali Kahraman, Yücel Dağlı, [[Robert Dankoff]], Yapı Kredi Yayınları, Istanbul, 2006, v. 7, p. 100. {{ISBN| 975-08-0578-X}}.</ref> One of the first lighters was invented by a German chemist named [[Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner]] in 1823, and was often called [[Döbereiner's lamp]].<ref name="Hoffman">{{cite journal |author=Roald Hoffmann |date=August 1998 |url=http://www.americanscientist.org/article/dobereiners-lighter |title=Döbereiner's Feuerzeug |work=American Scientist |volume=86 |issue=4 |doi=10.1511/1998.31.326 |access-date=2010-05-21|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This lighter worked by passing flammable hydrogen gas, produced within the lighter by a chemical reaction, over a platinum metal catalyst, which in turn caused it to ignite and give off a great amount of heat and light.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Metrowebukmetro|date=2009-03-03|title=Weird Fact of the Day (that you probably didn't know) – May to June 2009 |url=https://metro.co.uk/2009/03/03/weird-fact-of-the-day-that-you-probably-didnt-know-may-to-june-2009-502753/ |access-date=2021-12-23 |website=Metro|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Hamburg Museum 2010-1207-217.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A [[Döbereiner's lamp]]]]

The development of [[ferrocerium]] (often misidentified as [[flint]]) by [[Carl Auer von Welsbach]] in 1903 has made modern lighters possible. When scratched, it produces a large [[spark (fire)|spark]] that is responsible for lighting the fuel of many lighters, and is suitably inexpensive for use in [[disposable]] items.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Using Carl Auer von Welsbach's flint, companies such as [[Ronson (company)|Ronson]] were able to develop practical and easy-to-use lighters. In 1910, Ronson released the first Pist-O-Liter, and in 1913, the company developed its first lighter, called the "Wonderlite", which was a permanent match-style of lighter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finepipes.com/articles/ronson-lighter.html |title=Dutch Ronson Collector's Club, 'History of the Ronson Lighter' |publisher=Finepipes.com |access-date=2010-05-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726164102/http://www.finepipes.com/articles/ronson-lighter.html |archive-date=26 July 2010 }}</ref>

During WWI, soldiers started to create lighters out of empty cartridge cases. During that time, one of the soldiers came up with a means to insert a chimney cap with holes in it to make it more windproof.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

[[File:Zippo 1.jpg|thumb|right|Two [[Zippo]] lighters, one open, one closed]]

The [[Zippo]] lighter and company were invented and founded by [[George Grant Blaisdell]] in 1932. The Zippo was noted for its reliability, "Life Time Warranty" and marketing as "Wind-Proof".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lightermall.com/history-of-zippo.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127013319/https://www.lightermall.com/history-of-zippo.htm |archive-date=27 November 2020 |title=The Early History of Zippo: The Birth of the Zippo Lighter |year=2020<!--copyright date--> |publisher=Lightermall.com}}</ref> Most early Zippos used [[naphtha]] as a fuel source.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

In the 1950s, a switch occurred in the fuel of choice from naphtha to [[butane]],<!-- {{citation needed|date=April 2016}} --> as butane allows for a controllable flame and has less odour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bugstores.com/shop/History_of_Lighters.html |author=Jason Virga |title=The Laureate Lighter – A chronological history of the amazing invention |date=2006 |publisher=Bugstores.com |access-date=2015-09-25}}</ref> This also led to the use of [[piezoelectric]] spark, which replaced the need for a flint wheel in some lighters and was used in many Ronson lighters.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Around the end of the 20th century, most of the world's lighters were produced in France, the United States, China, and Thailand.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHWuAAAAIAAJ&q=disposable+lighters+market&pg=SA11-PA22 |title=United States International Trade Commission, "Disposable Lighters from the People's Republic of China and Thailand", Bug Stores Lighters |year=1994 }}</ref>