Every year on March 2, the world celebrates one of the unusual holidays – International Match Day. Why this date was chosen for his establishment – information varies. However, where – agrees that matches have been one of the indispensable things and most important elements of human life for many decades. However, even today they continue to play an important role in everyday life, as a convenient and cheap way to make fire.
Match – is a stick made of flammable material (most often wood), which has an incendiary head at the end, which serves to produce an open fire. While clicking on boxes with a match, people don't even think about the history of this very practical and amazing invention. But starting a fire in ancient times was a very difficult task – it was obtained by friction or carving.
Even after the invention of the fire, which became widespread in the Middle Ages, lighting it required a lot of effort and a certain dexterity, since sparking was the most unpleasant moment in this «» device. Only then did someone come up with the idea of placing the tip of a dry beam in pre-melted sulfur. Then this mercury head was pressed against the tinder, it instantly flared up. From it the whole beam was engaged in fire. This is how the first matches appeared, which became the object of attention of chemists –, many of them were engaged in their improvement, trying to make them more convenient and safe.
Great progress in improving matches was made with the discovery of phosphorus. The German scientist A. Gankwitz guessed to make matches with a sulfur coating, which were lit by rubbing against a piece of phosphorus. It became possible to make them convenient for widespread use after the invention of the potassium chlorate salt (better known as bertoletova) by the French chemist C. Berthollet in the late 18th century. It was he who proved that the flame could be the result of a different chemical reaction – by dropping sulfuric acid on the Bertolet salt, a flame would appear.
This discovery made it possible to approach the issue of fire mining from a completely different direction. Since that time, scientists in many countries began research into creating comfortable and safe matches, and international patent law did not yet exist. Therefore, today there is no consensus on who became the first inventor of matches, such as we know them today. In this regard, it makes sense to talk only about their wide industrial production.
Matches have a very rich history... (Photo: Frankris, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
Researchers most often date the history of modern matches to 1805, when the French chemist Chappelle demonstrated the first self-igniting matches. These were wooden sticks with a head made of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet salt with the addition of cinnabar (it served to paint the incendiary mass red). In sunny weather, you could light a match using a lens, and on other days – when combined with a drop of sulfuric acid. The first manufactory for the production of such matches was registered in Vienna in 1813. These first matches were incredibly expensive and, of course, very dangerous, because sulfuric acid could spray when the head ignited and cause serious chemical burns. Therefore, work to improve matches continued.
While searching for another flammable substance, they noticed white phosphorus, mined back in 1669 by the alchemist Brand. According to one version, a new sample of matches consisting of a mixture of bertholet salt, white phosphorus and glue was invented by the English pharmacist John Walker in 1827, according to another – by the French chemist Charles Soria in 1830. However, these phosphorus matches were highly flammable because they caught fire even from mutual friction in the box and friction against any hard surface (such as the sole). In addition, white phosphorus is very poisonous, which was very harmful to health (subsequently, the production of matches using white phosphorus was prohibited in almost all countries).
This problem was solved only two decades later, after non-poisonous red phosphorus was discovered in 1847. The German chemist Betscher made his own sample of the match – he mixed Bertolet's salt, sulfur with glue, and dipped the rays, previously coated with paraffin, into it. And to set this beam on fire, he created a special surface – lubricated the piece of paper with a composition containing a certain amount of red phosphorus. The new matches were stably lit and produced a yellow, even flame. They did not smoke and did not have an unpleasant odor. The first such «safe matches» began to be produced in 1851 in Sweden, by the Lundström brothers, so for a long time such matches were called «Swedish». In 1855, they were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris and received a gold medal. From that moment on, the match began a triumphal procession around the world and, after some improvements, has survived to this day. The modern match does not contain sulfur and chlorine compounds; instead, paraffins and chlorine-free oxidizers are used.
In Russia, the production of phosphorus matches began around the 1830s, but no documentary evidence of this has survived. It is reliably known that by 1848 there were already more than 30 match manufactories operating in Russia. But a law passed that same year, allowing the production of matches only in St. Petersburg and Moscow and limiting their retail sale, brought all production to naught. Only 20 years later was it again allowed « everywhere, both in the Empire and in the Kingdom of Poland, to produce phosphorus matches». At the same time, the gradual mechanization of match production began. Thus, by 1913, there were 251 registered production of safe matches in the country. Moreover, most match factories were equipped with mechanical machines, operating mainly from steam engines.
But due to subsequent revolutionary events, the consequences of wars and devastation, match production in Russia steadily decreased. By the early 1940s, after the reconstruction of factories, a revival of match production began, and the country even began to export matches on a commercial scale. But the destruction during the Great Patriotic War brought these efforts to naught; only by the mid-1960s the match crisis in the country was largely eliminated. However, already in the 1990s, in a market economy, the production of matches in Russia again fell into decline, which was facilitated by the mass production of disposable cheap lighters. Today, few match productions have managed to survive and develop in modern conditions.
By the way, the Russian word «match» comes from the word «match» (sharpened wooden stick). Initially, to designate matches in the modern sense, the phrase «incendiary (or samogar) matches» was used, but over time the first word began to fall, and then completely disappeared from use.
Today, matches, in addition to their main purpose, are used in a very varied manner (Photo: Olga Popova, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
Currently, thanks to various materials and technologies, matches are different. For example, based on the material of a matchstick, they are divided into wooden (made of soft wood), cardboard and wax; according to the ignition method – into grating (lit when rubbing against a special surface) and non-grinding (lit when rubbing against any surface). In Russia, aspen grater matches are the most common. A Soviet/Russian-style matchbox (according to GOST) is 5 cm long, which is often used (if necessary) to measure other items.
Also, in addition to regular (household) matches, special ones are made. For example, hunting (or storm) – they burn in the wind and even in the rain; thermal (giving a higher temperature during combustion, and therefore more heat); signal (with colored flames); cigarette (for smoking cigars); fireplaces (very long matches to light fireplaces) and others. There are even decorative ones (mostly for collectors), produced in limited edition with various designs on boxes (like postage stamps).
But it should also be noted that matches with their rich history, in addition to their main purpose, are used in a very diverse manner. Here are just a few examples of – instead of counting sticks for teaching children, as a conventional monetary unit for various card and other games, for making match houses and other structures, for drawing lots, for various logic games, as toothpicks and a base for a cotton swab, as props for tricks... It is not surprising that in a number of – countries, for example, in Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany – there are Match Museums.
By the way, when understanding the benefits of matches, it is important to remember the danger that arises when handling fire carelessly. According to statistics, every twentieth fire in Russia occurs as a result of childish pranks or carelessness with fire. Therefore, remember: «Match – for children is not a toy»!
• Infographics – poster «2 March — International Match Day»
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