Who invented glow in the dark?

Answer 1

I'm not sure who decided to start putting it on watches and toys, but German alchemist Hennig Brand discovered Phosphor, the main "ingrediant" in glow in the dark things.

Also, here's how glow in the dark works: (From Wikipedia)
* Calcium sulfide with strontium sulfide with bismuth as activator, (Ca,Sr)S:Bi, yields blue light with glow times up to 12 hours, [1] red and orange are modifications of the zinc sulfide formula. Red color can be obtained from strontium sulfide.

* Zinc sulfide with about 5 ppm of a copper activator is the most common phosphor for the glow-in-the-dark toys and items. It is also called GS phosphor.

* Mix of zinc sulfide and cadmium sulfide emit color depending on their ratio; increasing of the CdS content shifts the output color towards longer wavelengths; its persistence ranges between 1-10 hours.

* Strontium aluminate activated by europium, SrAlO3:Eu, is a newer material with higher brightness and significantly longer glow persistence; it produces green and aqua hues, where green gives the highest brightness and aqua the longest glow time. SrAlO3:Eu is about 10 times brighter, 10 times longer glowing, and 10 times more expensive than ZnS:Cu. The excitation wavelengths for strontium aluminate range from 200 to 450 nm. The wavelength for its green formulation is 520nm, its blue-green version emits at 505nm, and the blue one emits at 490nm. Colors with longer wavelengths can be obtained from the strontium aluminate as well, though for the price of some loss of brightness.

In these applications, the phosphor is directly added to the plastic from which the toys are molded, or mixed with a binder for use as paints.

ZnS:Cu phosphor is used in glow-in-the-dark cosmetic creams frequently used for Halloween make-ups.

Generally, the persistence of the phosphor increases as the wavelength decreases. Red and orange phosphors therefore do not have sufficiently long glow times to be commercially attractive for glow-in-the-dark applications.

Answer 2

The oldest known form is from bio-luminescence, in fish, sea slugs, squid, jellyfish and many other deep-sea dwellers. There are also lichen and other land based life forms which have luminescence.

Photoluminescence seems to predate history. I do not believe that the "inventor" can be found. The inventors of several new synthetic "glow in the dark" pigments could probably be found with a web search.

Answer 3

probably somebody who spilled a lot of paint in the dark

Answer 4

Oi tink its called da sun