November 21, 2024

On November 21, 1854, Isaac Van Bunschoten received U.S. Patent No 11979 on a lamp that burns rosin oil:

He received a second patent, U.S. Patent No. 13378, sixteen months later:

Van Bunschoten Invented a modified Argand burner. While inventive and economical, the invention was shortly replaced by lamps that burned coal oil and kerosene. Van Bunschoten’s contribution is a reminder that inventors are integral to the process of technology, and the fact that their inventions are replaced by yet newer inventions does not diminish the importance of their contribution to the progress of science and the useful arts.