Limelight
Limelight (also known ascalcium
light) is a type ofstage
lighting once used intheatres and music
halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen
flame is directed at a cylinder
of quicklime (calcium oxide), which
can be heated to 2,572
°C (4,662 °F)before
melting. The light is produced by a combination ofincandescence andcandoluminescence.
Although it has long since been replaced by electric lighting, the term
has nonetheless survived, as someone in the public eye is still said to be
in the limelight. The actual lights are called limes, a term which has
been transferred to electrical equivalents.

A pun is
sometimes made in theater productions on the two meanings by "lime" by
using lime-colored light
in a production. (See right.)
History
The limelight effect was discovered in the 1820s by Goldsworthy
Gurney, based on his work with
the "oxy-hydrogen blowpipe,"
credit for which is normally given to Robert
Hare. In 1825, aScottish engineer, Thomas
Drummond (17971840), saw a
demonstration of the effect by Michael
Faraday and realized that the light would be useful for surveying.
Drummond built a working version in 1826, and the device is sometimes
called the Drummond Light after
him.

Limelight was first used in public in the Covent
Garden Theatre inLondon in
1837 and enjoyed widespread use in theatres around the world in the 1860s
and 1870s. Limelights were
employed to highlight solo performers in the same manner as
modernfollowspots (spotlights). Limelight
was replaced by electric arc
lighting in the late 19th
century.