Subcommittee XVII on Flash Point was formed in 1950 to reconsider the question of standardizing the Tag open cup flash point procedure. In order to clarify the reason for the establishment of this committee, it is necessary to go back in the records of Subcommittee V of ASTM Committee D-1, formerly known as Subcommittee XI on Paint Thinners Other Than Turpentine. Before World War I this committee undertook a systematic investigation of the available equipment and procedures for determining the flash points of thinners.