What is the history of Matchstick Birthday?
The world’s first match appeared in 1826 thanks to the English chemist and apothecary John Walker. He was mixing chemicals with a stick, and a dried drop formed on its end. To remove it, Walker scratched the stick against the floor, and suddenly a fire ignited. The apothecary demonstrated his discovery to anyone who wanted to see it.
In 1832, dry matches appeared in Vienna. They were invented by the chemist Leonard Trevani, who coated the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of bertolette salt, sulfur, and glue. If such a match was drawn across sandpaper or any rough surface, the head would ignite. Most often, this happened with an explosion, leading to fires and burns.
In 1889, Joshua Pusey invented the matchbox, but the patent for this invention was given to the American company Diamond Match Company, which came up with exactly the same one, but with a striking surface on the outside (in Pusey’s it was located inside the box).
If necessary, a standard matchbox can be used as a ruler, it is exactly 5 centimeters long.
The first modern matches were made on April 10, 1855, when yellow phosphorus was added to the match head mass. It is this day that is celebrated as the international Matchstick Birthday.