Who invented matches?
The quest for ways to ignite a fire began about 1.5 million years ago,
when the caveman discovered that he could start a fire by rubbing two
sticks together, and ended with the successful invention of the
non-toxic matches we use today.
Today, approximately 500 billion matches are used each year and about
200 billion of these come from matchbooks.
In 1669, an alchemist, one who mistakenly believes that he can change
base metals into gold, mixed up a batch of something which was,
surprisingly, not gold, but a substance he named phosphorous. Since
his recipe did not produce the gold he desired, he tossed it onto the
heap of history.
Next was Robert Boyle, an English physicist, after whom Boyle's Law
was named. He cleverly coated a piece of paper with phosphorous and,
armed with a splinter of sulfur-coated wood, bravely bulled the wood
through the paper, which burst into flames.
Much later, in 1826, John Walker stumbled upon a chemical concoction
that produced fire. After stirring together a mixture of chemicals,
which did not contain phosphorous, John removed the stick he used,
only to find a dried lump at its end. When he scraped the stick
against the floor to rid it of the lump, the stick ignited. His
mixture of antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch could
produce fire. In his rush to demonstrate his discovery to others, John
bypassed the patent office.
In no time, a person at one of John's demonstrations, Samuel Jones,
spotted an overlooked, golden opportunity, and patented the invention
under his name. Mr. Jones produced matches he named Lucifers, which
produced phenomenal sales. The widespread availability of the matches
actually led to a significant increase in smoking.
The dark side to Lucifers was their ungodly odor, and the fireworks
display they gave when ignited. In fact, Lucifers carried a warning
label stating that they, not the cigarettes they lit, were dangerous
to one's health!
In the 1830s, Charles Sauria, a French chemist, decided to improve
upon the existing formula by adding white phosphorous to do away with
the stench of the matches. What Mr. Sauria did not know, was that
white phosphorous was lethal to those who came into contact with it.
Unknowingly, he created a deadly monster by adding the white
phosphorous. The phosphorous was responsible for a nearly epidemic
disease known as "phossy jaw," match factory workers developed
poisoned bones, and children who sucked on the matches developed
infant skeletal deformities. Even the amount of white phosphorous
contained in one pack of matches could kill a person, and actually
did, through numerous suicides and murders.
Finally, by 1910, the general public's awareness of the dangers of the
white phosphorous in these matches led to a worldwide campaign to ban
them. Thankfully, Diamond Match Company obtained an U.S. patent for
the first nonpoisonous match, which used the harmless chemical
sesquisulfide of phosphorous in place of the deadly white phosphorous.
So critical was Diamond Match Company's discovery to public health,
that U.S. President Taft made a public plea to the Company voluntarily
to surrender their patent rights to the invention. Despite the
enormous moneymaking potential of the patent, Diamond Match Company
granted President Taft's request on January 28, 1911. Congress
followed suit by passing a law that raised the tax on white
phosphorous matches to a level so high that their production soon
ceased.
Discussion of the match would be incomplete without mention of the
matchbook. John Pusey, in 1892, invented something he named the
matchbook. He had the right idea, but had it backwards, as he placed
the striking surface for the match on the inside of the book of 50
matches, so when one match was struck, the remaining 49 also ignited!
Once again, Diamond Match Company intervened and saved the day, by
purchasing the patent to the matchbook, by moving the striking surface
to the outside of the cover where it belonged, and by marketing the
revamped match as the "safety match."
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