Calendar. On July 31, 1853, at the Universal Hospital in Lviv, an event took place, which was recorded in gold reports not only in the history of Polish science and technology, but also in the history of medicine and world oil industry. That day, during the night surgery, for the first time in practice oil lamps constructed by Ignacy Łukasiewicz and his colleague Jan Zeha were used. Although today electric light seems to be obvious, in the mid -nineteenth century, the operations after dark were dramatically difficult – so far candles or oil lamps were used, which gave unstable, poor light and in addition they generated soot and suffocating smoke. Ignacy Łukasiewicz, a pharmacist by profession, has been working on crude oil distillation and obtaining kerosene -suitable oil for lighting purposes for several years. In 1852, together with Zeha, he first received purified kerosene using the fractional distillation. However, the key breakthrough only occurred when the appropriate lamp was constructed, which enabled stable, clear and safe burning of this fuel. The prototype of the lamp was designed by Lviv tinsmith Adam Bratkowski according to the guidelines of Łukasiewicz – it was a structure with a wick immersed in kerosene, equipped with a glass chimney, which provided adequate air sequence. The first public use of the lamp took place in the pharmacy “Under the Star” in Lviv, but it was the night operation at the Lviv hospital that was a breakthrough proof of the effectiveness of this invention. Thanks to the clear and stable light, surgeons could perform a complicated procedure in history for the first time in conditions similar to daytime, which significantly increased the patient’s chances of survival. The light of the kerosene lamp not only dispersed the darkness of the operating room, but also initiated the revolution in the lighting of cities, houses and industrial plants. The invention of Łukasiewicz was very quickly used not only in medicine, but also in public space. #Ignacyłukasiewicz #lampanaftowa #historiapolski #lwów #wywylazki #medicin #polskanauka #dzierzcictwo #naft #pionarzy #pionarzy #light #light #revolutionary industrial #history
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