April 5, 1965 –
Happy Lava Lamp Day. The first motion lamp was designed in 1963 by an engineer, Edward Craven Walker, who sold it under the name Astro Lamp. In 1965, two American entrepreneurs, Adolph Wertheimer and William M. Rubinstein, saw the lamp displayed at a German trade show and were in awe at its beauty. They bought the rights to manufacture the lamp in North America. The Astro Lamp was brought to the USA, renamed the LAVA® brand motion lamp and production took off in Chicago.
Some of the original participants have not stopped celebrating.
Bonus info – Mr. Walker was an avid naturalist (actually he was a naturists but it was too dumb a joke,) and shot several ‘documentaries‘ (nudie flix) during the early 60s under the alias Michael Keatering. (Look ’em up yourself.)
The Haus of Dcaligari 