The first recorded observation is attributed to English scholar Francis Bacon when he recorded in his 1620 Novum Organum that "It is well known that all sugar, whether candied or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped in the dark." The scientist Robert Boyle also reported on some of his work on triboluminescence in 1663. In 1675. Astronomer Jean-Felix Picard observed that his barometer was glowing in the dark as he carried it. His barometer consisted of a glass tube that was partially filled with mercury. The empty space above the mercury would glow whenever the mercury slid down the glass tube.
In the late 1790s, sugar production began to produce more refined sugar crystals. These crystals were formed into a large solid cone for transport and sale. This solid sugar cone had to be broken into usable chunks using a sugar nips device. People began to notice that tiny bursts of light were visible as sugar was "nipped" in low light, an established example of triboluminescence.