Glow sticks started when scientist tried to replicate the natural bioluminescent light that fireflies made. In the 1960's, Edwin Chandross of Bell Labs patented the first glow stick out of oxalyl chloride and hydrogen peroxide.. 1,2 Building on Chandross's discovery, a team from a lab named American Cyanamid led by Michael M. Rahrut created an oxalate ester named phenyl oxalate to replace the oxalyl chloride. They sold their invention to a company named Omniglow, whose R&D group, led by E. Earl Cranor, continued to make further improvements on the glow stick. 2 During that same time, the U.S. Navy independently worked on their own glow stick like device and received a patent in 1973.1 In 1974, Herbert Richter and Ruth Tedrick received a patent for their chemiluminescent device.1 The glow stick was popularized sometime in the 1980's.1
Modern glow stick usage
Nowadays, glow sticks are used for lighting during rave parties, personal amusement, by the military, and several artists. (It creates extraordinary effects when photographed.)