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Jan Pieter Minckeleers (Maastricht, December 2, 1748 – Maastricht, July 4, 1824) was a Dutch scientist and inventor.
He discovered coal gas or town gas and its use for gas lighting. Minckeleers studied at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he became professor in physics. There he discovered that, by heating coal without the presence of oxygen, a gas lighter than air was released. This gas could be used to fill a hot air balloon, making him one of the founders of aviation. The gas was also combustible and useful as a light source. Minckeleers used it in 1785 to light his auditorium. In 1798 he returned to Maastricht where he taught at the École centrale. In 1854, the first gas pipe for street lighting was constructed in Maastricht.
