A Zippo lighter is a reusable metal lighter produced by Zippo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States. Thousands of different styles and designs have been made in the eight decades since their introduction, including military versions for specific regiments. Zippo lighters have been sold around the world and have been described as "a legendary and distinct symbol of America". In 2012, the company produced the 500-millionth unit. Since the company's inception, Zippo lighters have been almost exclusively manufactured in the United States, with the exception of an operation the company ran from 1949 until 2002 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
American inventor George G. Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing Company in 1932 and produced the first Zippo lighter in early 1933, being inspired by an Austrian cigarette lighter of similar design made by IMCO. It got its name because Blaisdell liked the sound of the word "zipper", and "zippo" sounded more modern. On March 3, 1936, the U.S. Patent Office granted a patent for the Zippo lighter.
