Man has been playing with fire for over a million years, but no one has been able to invent something that can easily light a fire. Finally, a British pharmacist invented matches. This is the incident of 1826. John Walker was mixing some chemicals in a vessel through a bag. He saw that the top of the bag had become like a dried ball. When he inadvertently tried to remove the dried substance by rubbing the end of the bag, a fire broke out. That's exactly how matches were invented. John Walker sold the first matches at a bookstore in his area. He named the matches "Fractional Lights." The bags were three inches long. On one side of the box was a rig, on which the oils were rubbed and burned. John Walker was not interested in getting his invention patented.
Samuel Jones copied the matches. She named her match "Lucy Fur". Their match bags were small. His box was also small and easy to carry. The first mention of something like matches in history is found in a book written in China. The title of the book was "Mention of Extraordinary and Unique Things" and it was written by Tao Gu. This book was written around 950 AD. Sulfur was used to light fires, but these oils could not be ignited by rubbing. The French chemist Jean Chansell invented the first matches in 1805, with sugar and potassium chlorate applied to the ends of the oils. The tip was dipped in concentrated sulfuric acid and burned. It was dangerous to burn matches made by Jean Chanel. The mixture of chemicals produced a yellow, foul-smelling gas called chlorine dioxide, which exploded when touched by anything. Nowadays matches are made of red phosphorus. Red phosphorus is not toxic. It was discovered by Johann Edward Lindstrom. Diamond Match Company was the first company to sell safety matches in the United States. By buying the rights, other match-making companies started making and selling matches