Not many of us knew about the real inventor of the first Friction match in the world. It was actually John Walker who invented such useful item back on November 27, 1826 in Stockton. Born and raised at the 59 High Street on May 29, 1781, he was able to invest the friction match while experimenting using different chemicals.

According to history, the successful invention of Walker is only by chance and not with full intention. He himself got surprised on what he did during his experiment and made a decision to prove his worthwhile invention. He utilized various chemicals such as gum Arabic, sulphide, antimony, starch, potassium, water and chlorate. He noticed that the mixture dried on the splint (end) and it scraped against fireside and then triggered a spark like a fire.

With his effort, Walker decided to experiment even better to make sure his creation will achieve success. He started to bundle the friction matches he invented and sell them in a town back on April of 1827. He named his product “Sulpurata Hyper-Oxygenata Fricts” and later on decided to replace the name into “Friction Lights” to make it easier for the consumers.

Unfortunately, Walker failed to patent his own invented product despite the encouragement of Michael Faraday back in 1830. A man from London named Samuel Johnson patented the friction matches and replaced the name into “Lucifer.”

From the shared information about John Walker, he did without any money at the age of 78 on May 1, 1859.