“In some of the furnace-heated houses of this city, the air is so dry that it is a common amusement of the children to light the gas by a spark of electricity from their fingers. By rubbing one’s feet along the carpet the body becomes so charged with the electric fluid that, on approaching the finger to the gas burner, a spark is drawn forth sufficient to light the gas.”
—Scientific American, March 1861
More gems from Scientific American’s first 175 years can be found on our shiny anniversary page.