Limelight

Description

An early type of light that produced an intense beam. Developed in 1816, calcium lights, or limelights, were used as spotlights for theater stages as well as in lighthouses. They produced illumination by burning a piece of lime in an oxyhydrogen flame. A lens system was used to focus the brilliant white light into a strong beam. Unfortunately, the intense heat from the limelights caused a lot of fires.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Drummond light; calcium light; oxycalcium light; Acetylen-Lampe (Deut.); lâmpada de acetileno (Port.); lampe à acétylène (Fr.);

Resources and Citations

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Category:Uemura_dye_archive
• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
• Wikipedia: Limelight Accessed March 2025