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Written by Paul Jameson
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Thursday, 22 September 2005 |
John Walker was a small time chemist who had a small shop on Stocktons High Street. He regularly sold gunpowders to local people and experimented with combustible materials.
It was during one of these experiments that Walker happened to scrape his mixing stick along his hearth, causing the stick to ignite.Walker quickly realised that he had stumbled across a great invention and soon had perfected the mixture of Potassium Chlorate and Antimony Sulphide.
In April 1827, John Walker put his invention on sale in his chemist shop, naming them initially Sulphurate Hyper-Oxygenata Frict, soon to be shortened to Friction Lights.
Sadly, despite encouragement and advise from friends, Walker did not patent his invention and in 1830, his idea was seized and patented by a Londoner called Samuel Johnson, who renamed them Friction Matches.
John Walker never made his fortune from his idea that became widely popular, the world over!!
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