Reading this article more carefully, photoluminescent paint was invented in the 60s, which eventually developed into LumiNova in the 90s.
Shortly after the war, Nemoto started working on a non-radioactive compound and, in 1962, created a new phosphorescent material made of strontium aluminate... Nemoto’s creation has an induced luminescence, meaning it needs to be charged by a light source in order to glow.
To make a long corporate story short, what Nemoto created came to be known as LumiNova after being joined by RC-Tritec AG, a Swiss manufacturer of Tritium luminescent paint founded in 1993.
Glow in the dark paint existed before the 90s, and, if my memory serves, and I think it does, was used in watches.
Hmm, I really don't think my memory is that far off. And I would have thought radioactive lume was even cooler (both my parents were physicists). Glow in the dark toys and such certainly already existed.
I’ve wondered about that. I had a watch with lume way back when as a kid, we’re talking like the 70s, and I remember having to charge it and thinking glow in the dark was so cool. Or at least that’s how I remember it. When was photoluminescent lume invented, and when did it become common?
I gotta get me purple for Lent. I got white/gold for Christmas and Easter (incarnation and resurrection), red for Pentecost, martyrs, and Holy Week, green for Ordinary Time (not that I wear the green much), Advent blue, and pink for Laetare and Gaudete Sundays. And black too, not that you see black much these days. Sorry for getting all churchy, but I know I'm not the only one who cares about liturgical colors.
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