English chemist John Walker had invented the…

English chemist John Walker had invented the first “friction match” in 1827.

Robert Boyle had done early work in the 1680s with phosphorus and sulfur, but his efforts had not produced useful results.

Walker discovered a mixture of antimony(III) sulfide or stibnite, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch could be ignited by striking against any rough surface.

Walker called the matches congreves, but Samuel Jones patented the process and the matches were sold as lucifer matches.

The early matches had a number of problems: the flame was unsteady and the initial reaction was disconcertingly violent; additionally, the odor produced by the burning match was unpleasant.

It is described as a firework odor.

Lucifers reportedly could ignite explosively, sometimes throwing sparks at a considerable distance.

(In the Netherlands, matches are still called lucifers.)

In 1830, Frenchman Charles Sauria had added white phosphorus to remove the odor.

These new matches had to be kept in an airtight box but were popular.

Unfortunately, those involved in the manufacture of the new matches were afflicted with phossy jaw and other bone disorders, and there was enough white phosphorus in one pack to kill a person.

There was a vociferous campaign to ban these matches once the dangers became known.

The Hungarian János Irinyi, who is a student of chemistry, invents the noiseless match in 1836.

An unsuccessful experiment by his professor, Meissner, had given Irinyi the idea to replace potassium chlorate with lead dioxide in the head of the phosphorus match.

He liquefied phosphorus in warm water and shook it in a glass foil, until it became granulated.

He mixed the phosphorus with lead and gum arabic, poured the paste-like mass into a jar, and dipped the pine sticks into the mixture and let them dry.

When he tried them that evening, all of them lit evenly.

Irinyi thus invented the noiseless match and sold the invention to István Rómer, a match manufacturer.

Rómer, a rich Hungarian pharmacist living in Vienna, buys the invention and production rights from Irinyi, the poor student, for sixty forints.

The production of matches is now fully underway.

István Rómer will become richer off Irinyi's invention, and Irinyi himself will go on to publish articles and a textbook on chemistry and found several match factories.