Flashlights were invented in the year 1899. The invention is attributed mainly to David Misell, a British inventor living in the United States, who patented the first flashlight, also called the "electric hand torch," in 1899. This early flashlight used three D-cell batteries to power a small light bulb inside a metal tube with a reflector. Another inventor, Paul Schmidt from Germany, is also credited with an early development in 1906, but Misell's earlier patent from 1899 is often considered the original invention of the modern flashlight.
