In the 1790's a man by the name of William Murdoch began to experiment with different forms of illumination, specifically a gas lantern. His ideas soon caught on, and major cities like Paris began using them to light their streets at night. People benefitted greatly from the artificial light, as now they weren't quite so restricted in their activities. They could stay up later and continue working, and they could get up very early if they wished. It was no longer necessary to try to plan a day around the hours of sunshine provided, and while that sounds like something that should date much farther back than the 1700's, it has always been a problem, even with supplies of candles. Candles did not provide that much light, and with their quivering flame they only kind of aided sight. Gas lamp illumination allowed people to see things clearly with just the flick of a switch or a turn of a knob.
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