The first house in the world to be lit by gas is in Redruth, Cornwall. William Murdock was a brilliant engineer who was the local manager for Boulton and Watt, a Birmingham firm that made steam engines which were used in mining.
In 1794 he built a closed coal fire in his garden and ran a pipe into the house. He lit the gas coming through that was produced from the burning coal thus giving the first gas lighting system.
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14 January 1742 – EDWARD Halley, the English astronomer, who calculated the orbit of the comet named after him, died.