Humphry Davy announces the Davy safety lamp

Background. Sir Humphry Davy, a British chemist and inventor, began experimenting with lamps for coal mines after returning to England in 1815. The concept of safety lamps had already been demonstrated by William Reid Clanny, who presented a paper to the Royal Society in May 1813, and by engineer George Stephenson. Davy's specific innovation involved using wire gauze to prevent the spread of flame, a principle adopted by other inventors.

Announcement. Davy's findings were made public at a meeting in Newcastle on 3 November 1815, based on a letter he intended to keep private. A formal paper describing the lamp was presented at a Royal Society meeting in London on 9 November 1815. Davy refused to patent the lamp, leading to his award of the Rumford Medal in 1816.

Design. Davy's lamp differed from George Stephenson's prototype, which used a perforated plate in a glass cylinder. Davy's design surrounded the flame with a screen of gauze. This wire-gauze principle was noted in his Royal Society paper as an alternative to other solutions and was subsequently used by many other inventors in their later designs.