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The Limelight

Enjoy the limelight—but what is the limelight?

We use this phrase from time to time, sometimes earnestly, most times sarcastically. Where does it come from?

It comes from the theater, the 19th Century theater.

The limelight was a mechanism that highlighted the stars of a show in much the same way modern spot lights do.

What’s interesting about the limelight is that was a chemical reaction.

The reaction occurs when oxygen and hydrogen are ignited together and the flame is aimed at a cylinder of quicklime. The technical name for quicklime is calcium oxide.

Calcium oxide can be heated to over two thousand degrees centigrade before it stars to melt. When heated, it gives of an intense luminescent.

The limelight was first used at Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1837.

By the 1890's, electric lighting was taking over theater and the limelight shone, no more. Pathos.

I’ve not tried it, but if you can get your hands on some calcium oxide, you can put it on a gas burner and get an example of what the limelight looked like.

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Enjoy the limelight—but what is the limelight?

We use this phrase from time to time, sometimes earnestly, most times sarcastically. Where does it come from?

It comes from the theater, the 19th Century theater.

The limelight was a mechanism that highlighted the stars of a show in much the same way modern spot lights do.

What’s interesting about the limelight is that was a chemical reaction.

The reaction occurs when oxygen and hydrogen are ignited together and the flame is aimed at a cylinder of quicklime. The technical name for quicklime is calcium oxide.

Calcium oxide can be heated to over two thousand degrees centigrade before it stars to melt. When heated, it gives of an intense luminescent.

The limelight was first used at Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1837.

By the 1890's, electric lighting was taking over theater and the limelight shone, no more. Pathos.

I’ve not tried it, but if you can get your hands on some calcium oxide, you can put it on a gas burner and get an example of what the limelight looked like.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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