# When were flashlights invented?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-were-flashlights-invented/121964>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 2, 2002, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-were-flashlights-invented/121964 "2002-08-02T02:52:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-were-flashlights-invented/121964/1 "2002-08-02T02:52:50Z")

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I’m talking common cylindrical ones available in the home.

I just saw the movie _Road to Perdition_, and the kid supposedly had one in 1931. It struck me that flashlights weren’t around yet, but I can’t find info about it. And I could easily be wrong.

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**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-were-flashlights-invented/121964/2 "2002-08-02T03:09:39Z")

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Google, “flashlight history”

[http://www.energizerflashlights.com/history.asp](http://www.energizerflashlights.com/history.asp)  
[http://www.geocities.com/~stuarts1031/flashlight.html](http://www.geocities.com/~stuarts1031/flashlight.html)

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-were-flashlights-invented/121964/3 "2002-08-02T03:23:17Z")

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Thanks. I had done so, but I threw in some other word, which I can’t recall now, and I got a zillion hits, and the first page of links was no help.

Anyway, I was wrong again!