The Match or the Lighter?

There seems to be a debate going on about which came first: the match or the lighter. Like all things, the answer is "that depends".

Matches in some form had been around for hundreds of years. The first matches in Europe began to be seen in the early 1530's. However, these matches had to be lit, and did not self-ignite. In 1805, K. Chancel invented the first modern, self-igniting match. The problem with these was two-fold: they were expensive and dangerous. The match head was made with a combination of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar, and rubber. To ignite this match, you dipped the match head in a small asbestos bottle of sulfuric acid. This never really caught on though.

It was in 1823 that the first recognized lighter was invented by Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner. This lighter, called Dobereiner's Lamp, worked by having a reaction between zinc and sulfuric acid which produced hydrogen gas. When the valve was opened, the hydrogen escaped and bursted into flames. It was a simple concept, but the Dobereiner Lamp was in production until around 1880.

In 1826, John Walker invented the first friction match. He used a combination of stibnite, potassium chlorate, natural gums, and starch. He discovered that when these were bonded together, then struck on a rough surface, they ignited. Walker called these matches "congreves", but the name didn't catch on because he didn't patent them. The process was patented by Samuel Jones, who called the matches "lucifer matches". These early matches were unsteady, smelled bad (sulfur dioxide), and when struck, would send sparks quite a distance. The name "lucifers" was used in American slang for matches until the early 20th century before going out of style, but in some European countries today, they are still called "lucifers".

Matches themselves in some form have been around for hundreds of years. The first recorded match  in history was in China in 577. These were made of pinewood with sulfur embedded inside. However, they had to be ignited, and even though they were small enough, they weren't able to be lit without at least a spark. The modern match, the friction match, is what we think of as matches, and these were invented after the lighter. So technically, the match was around first, but what we think of as the match (striking a match on a rough surface to ignite it) was invented a few years after the first lighters. So, I guess it depends on your point of view.

Bet you didn't know that!