Who and when modern matches were invented?

Matches can be attributed to relatively recent inventions. Before the modern match broke out in human hands, many different discoveries took place, each of which contributed its significant contribution to the evolutionary path of this subject. When were modern matches invented? Who were they created by? What was the way to overcome it? Where did they invent matches for the first time? And what facts still hides the story?

The Meaning of Fire in Human Life

Long ago, fire was given a place of honor in the daily life of man. He played an important role in our development. Fire is one of the elements of the universe. For ancient people it was a phenomenon, and its practical application was not even guessed. The ancient Greeks, for example, protected the fire as a shrine, passing it on to people.

But the cultural development did not stand still, and the fire learned not only to use sensibly, but also to extract it independently. Thanks to the bright flame, the dwellings became warm all year round, the food received heat treatment and became tastier, and the smelting of iron, copper, gold and silver began to develop actively. The first dishes made of clay and ceramics also owe their appearance to fire.

The first fire - what is it?

As you already knew, for the first time the fire was extracted by man many thousands of years ago. How did our ancestors did this? Simple enough: took two pieces of wood and began to rub them, while the wood pollen and sawdust heated to such an extent that spontaneous combustion was inevitable.

In place of "wood" fire came the flint. It represents sparks produced by blowing steel or copper pyrites on flint. Then these sparks were ignited by some combustible substance, and it turned out that the most famous flint - the lighter in its original form. It turns out that the lighter was invented before the matches. The difference in their birthdays was three years.

Also, the ancient Greeks and Romans knew one more way of getting fire - by focusing the sun rays with a lens or a concave mirror.

In 1823, invented a new device - the incendiary apparatus of Deberair. The principle of its operation was based on the use of the ability of a rattling gas to ignite upon contact with spongy platinum. So after all, when were modern matches invented? Let's consider this issue in more detail.

A significant contribution to the invention of modern matches was made by the German scientist A. Gankvatz. Thanks to his ingenuity, matches with a sulfur coating appeared for the first time, which was ignited by rubbing against a phosphoric piece. The form of such matches was extremely inconvenient and required a speedy improvement.

The origin of the word "match"

Before deciding who invented the matches, let's find out the meaning of this concept and its origin.

The word "match" has old Russian roots. Its predecessor is the word "spoke" - a stick with a pointed end, a splinter.

Initially, the spokes were nails made of wood, the main purpose of which was to attach the sole to the shoes.

History of the modern match

When modern matches were invented - the moment is quite controversial. This is due to the fact that until the second half of the XIX century, the International Patent Law was not as such, and the basis for a variety of chemical discoveries were different countries of Europe at the same time.

The question of who invented matches is much more transparent. The history of their appearance owes its origin to the French chemist-scientist KL Berthollet. Its key discovery is the salt, which, upon contact with sulfuric acid, contributes to the release of a huge amount of heat. Later this discovery became the basis of the scientific work of Jean Chansel, thanks to the works of which the first matches were invented - a wooden stick, the tip of which was coated with a mixture of Berthollet salt, sulfur, sugar and tar. Such a device was ignited by pressing the head of the match against asbestos, impregnated with a concentrated solution of sulfuric acid.

Sulfur matches

Their inventor was John Walker. He slightly changed the components of the match head: Berthollet salt + gum + antimony sulphide. To ignite such matches, in interaction with sulfuric acid was not necessary. They were dry sticks, for ignition of which it was enough to strike about any rough surface: a paper with an emery covering, a grater, pounded glass. The length of the matches was 91 cm, and their packaging was a special pencil box, in which you can put 100 pieces. The smell was terrible. For the first time they were produced in 1826.

Phosphor matches

In what year did they invent phosphor matches? Perhaps, it is worth linking their appearance with 1831, when French scientist-chemist Charles Soria added white phosphorus to the incendiary mixture . Thus, the components of the match head included salt Berthollet, glue, phosphorus white. Any friction was enough for the improved match to light up.

The main drawback was a high degree of fire hazard. One of the shortcomings of sulfur matches was eliminated - an unbearable smell. But they were harmful to health due to the release of phosphorus fumes. Employees of enterprises and factories were seriously ill. Considering the latter, in 1906 they forbade the use of phosphorus as one of the constituent components of the match.

Swedish matches

Swedish products are nothing like modern matches. The year of their invention came in 50 years from the moment when the light saw the very first match. Instead of phosphorus, red phosphorus was included in the incendiary mixture. A similar composition, based on red phosphorus, was also used to cover the side surface of the box. These matches were lit only when they interacted with the phosphor spraying of their containers. They posed no danger to human health and were fireproof. The creator of modern matches is the Swedish chemist Johan Lundstrem.

In 1855, the Paris International Exhibition took place, at which the Swedish awards were given the highest award. A little later, phosphorus was completely excluded from the components of the incendiary mixture, on the surface of the same box it remained to this day.

When making modern matches, as a rule, use aspen. The incendiary mass includes sulfur sulfides, metal waxes, oxidants, manganese dioxide, glue, iron oxide, glass powder. In the production of coatings for the sides of the box, red phosphorus, antimony sulfide, iron oxide, manganese dioxide, calcium carbonate are used.

You will be interested!

The first matchboxes were not a cardboard box, but a metal box. Labels were not, and the name of the manufacturer was indicated on the stamp, which was placed on the lid or on the side of the package.

The first phosphor matches could be ignited due to friction. In this case, the surface was absolutely anything: from clothing to the matchbox itself.

Matchbox, manufactured by Russian state standards, has a length of exactly 5 centimeters, so with its help you can accurately measure objects.

The match is often used as a determinant of the overall characteristics of various items, which can only be seen in the photograph.

Indicators of the dynamics of the production turnover of matches in the world are 30 billion boxes per year.

There are several types of matches: gas, decorative, fireplace, signal, thermal, photographic, economic, hunting.

Advertising on matchboxes

When modern matches were invented, then a special container for them, boxes, came into active use. Who would have thought that this would be one of the promising marketing moves of the time. On such packages, advertising was depicted. The first commercial advertisement on the box of matches was created in America by the Diamond Match Company in 1895, which advertised the comic troupe Mendelson Opera Company. In the visible part of the box was an image of their trombonist. Incidentally, the last remaining advertising matchbox, manufactured at the time, was sold recently for $ 25,000.

The idea of advertising on a matchbox was accepted with a bang and was widely spread in the business sphere. With the help of container for matches advertised brewery "Pabst" in Milwaukee, products of tobacco king Duke, chewing gum Wrigley's Chewing Gum. Looking through the boxes, got acquainted with the stars, national celebrities, athletes, etc.