(Edited from Wikipedia)

SUMMARY

A is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, modern matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface.

Wooden matches are packaged in matchboxes, and paper matches are partially cut into rows and stapled into . The coated end of a match, known as the match "head", consists of a bead of active ingredients and binder; often colored for easier inspection.

There are two main types of matches: safety matches, which can be struck only against a specially prepared surface, and strike-anywhere matches, for which any suitably frictional surface can be used. Some match-like compositions, known as electric matches, are ignited electrically rather than from friction.

HISTORY

A note in the text Cho Keng Lu, written in 1366, describes a sulfur match, small sticks of pinewood impregnated with sulfur, used in China by "impoverished court ladies" in AD 577 during the conquest of Northern Qi.

Another text, Wu Lin Chiu Shih, dated from 1270 AD, lists sulphur matches as something that was sold in the markets of Hangzhou, around the time of Marco Polo's visit. The matches were known as fa chu or tshui erh.

Chemical Matches

Prior to the use of matches, fires were sometimes lit using a burning glass (a ) to focus the sun on , a method that could only work on sunny days. Another, more common method was igniting tinder with sparks produced by striking and steel, or by sharply increasing air pressure in a .

Early work had been done by alchemist Hennig Brandt, who discovered the flammable nature of phosphorus in 1669. Others, including Robert Boyle and his assistant,

1 Ambrose Godfrey, continued these experiments in the 1680s with phosphorus and sulfur, but their efforts did not produce practical and inexpensive methods for generating fires.

A number of different ways were employed in order to light smoking tobacco: One was the use of a spill, a thin object something like a straw, rolled paper, or a thin candle, which would be lit from a nearby, already existing flame and then used to light the pipe or cigar - most often kept near the fireplace in a spill vase.

Another method saw the use of a striker, a tool that looked like scissors, but with flint on one "blade" and steel on the other. These would then be rubbed together, ultimately producing sparks. If neither of these two were available, one could also use tongs to pick up a coal from a fire and light the tobacco directly.

The first modern, self-igniting match was invented in 1805 by Jean Chancel, assistant to Professor Louis Jacques Thénard of Paris. The head of the match consisted of a mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar, and rubber. The match was ignited by dipping its tip in a small asbestos bottle filled with sulfuric acid. This kind of match was quite expensive, however, and its usage was also relatively very dangerous, so Chancel's matches never really became widely adopted or in commonplace use.

This approach to match making was further refined in the proceeding decades, culminating with the 'Promethean Match' that was patented by Samuel Jones of London in 1828. His match consisted of a small glass capsule containing a chemical composition of sulfuric acid colored with indigo and coated on the exterior with potassium chlorate, all of which was wrapped up in rolls of paper. The immediate ignition of this particular form of a match was achieved by crushing the capsule with a pair of pliers, mixing and releasing the ingredients in order for it to bec