Archaeologists have found a wide variety of lamps and lanterns made during the Classical civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, India and China. The lamps burned vegetable oils or animal fat and usually had a spout or a wick. Decorative lanterns held candles made from beeswax or fat. The designs for these devices didn't change much over the ages. Anyone from a Classical civilization could have easily used the kinds of lamps and lanterns that were typical thousands of years later in 18 th century Europe and America.
People still read by the weak light of candles and oil lamps that used the same vegetable oils.
One new development was whale oil, which was harvested and traded on an industrial scale in Europe in the mid-18 th century and the U.S. in the early 19 th century. Oil lamps and candles tended to be expensive. The light from oil and candles were also too weak for large public places. Demand for better lighting came in the 19 th century with the growth of literacy, industry and urban life. People were reading more, partly because there were more publications and also because of the democratization of political life.