Ever wonder how the match became a match? 

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In 1669, Hennig Brand was attempting to turn base metals into gold when phosphorous was accidentally discovered. Using urine, he let it purify and boiled the liquid to a paste, thinking he could then heat it so gas vapors could be bonded with water and condensed into gold. Although his experiment did not result in gold, a waxy white substance was obtained which glowed in the dark, turning out to be hydrogenphosphate, producing sodium phosphite when heated. When heated with carbon, the hydrogenphosphate decomposed into white phosphorous and sodium pryophosphate. Thus, in 1678, Johann Kunckell took Brand's methods and successfully turned urine into phosphorous. In 1680, Robert Boyle successfully isolated phosphorous through sulfur-coated wood and phosphorous-coated paper. The chemical reaction was 
4NaPO3 + 2SiO2 + 10C --> 2Na2SiO3 + 10CO + P4

In 1826, John Walker discovered a friction match, composed of antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch--a result of various precipiattes and unnecessary materials dried up on the end of a stick used to stir chemical mixtures. Not patenting his product, Samuel Jones took the idea and produced "Lucifers" in 1827. Because there was a strong odor from the Lucifers, Charles Sauria used white phosphorous for the match in 1830, eliminating the strong odor; however, white phosphorous was very toxic and deadly, and the use of white phosphorous was haulted. 62 years later, Joshua Pusey invented the matchbook and the Diamond Match Company patented his product in 1910. The match created in 1910 has been altered slightly to be more cost-efficient and less toxic to be used in everyday life today!