electric torch or simply torch is a hand-held portable electric spotlight. It is known as a flashlight mainly in the United States and Canada and as a torch or electric torch in most Commonwealth countries.



History

An 1899 Eveready flashlight, one of the earliest flashlight models.

In 1896, Joshua Lionel Cowen invented a decorative lighting fixture for potted plants which consisted of a metal tube housing a light bulb and a dry cell battery. It failed commercially, and so Cowen sold his company and patents to Conrad Hubert that same year and turned his attention to building and selling model trains. Hubert renamed Cowen's company the American Electrical Novelty & Manufacturing Company and, recognizing the true potential of Cowen's invention, hired David Misell to produce a tubular flashlight for portable use. They donated some models to the New York City police, who responded favorably to it. These early flashlights ran on zinc-carbon batteries, which were poor at providing sustained currents; they would run down after a while and needed to rest before being usable again. Since these early flashlights also used energy-inefficient carbon filament bulbs, this happened rather quickly, and consequently they could only be used in brief flashes.