Jason Bradwell's 365/366 Photo a Day Blog

The spirit level was invented by Melchisedech Thevenot in 1661. Thevenot was an amateur scientist and patron of many scientists and mathematicians. It is occasionally argued that these bubble levels did not come into widespread use until the beginning of the eighteenth century, the earliest surviving examples being from that time. It is very likely that these levels were in use in France and elsewhere long before the turn of the century.

In the 1920s, Henry Ziemann the founder of Empire Level, invented the modern level with a single vial. The yellow liquid inside the level's vile is typically ethanol, because of its low freezing point.