In the development of human history, the emergence of matches played a very important role. It enabled humans to get rid of the primitive way of "drilling wood to make fire". The world's first match was introduced in 1805 and was called a sulfuric acid match. The match head was immersed in sulfuric acid before it ignited. In 1816, the Frenchman Drewson made a yellow phosphorus friction match. The match head was coated with sulfur and then coated with a mixture of yellow phosphorus, red lead or manganese dioxide and gum. Yellow phosphorus is a highly toxic substance. People who accidentally consume 0.1 to 0.2 grams will die. Matches made of yellow phosphorus will catch fire when heated to 40°C. If they are rubbed on rough objects, they can easily cause fires and are very unsafe. In 1845, the Austrian chemist Schroeter discovered red phosphorus, which is non-toxic and non-self-igniting, thus creating safety matches. Safety matches are made by coating the match head and special friction surface with igniting ingredients. In 1855, Swedish Lenstrum obtained this patent. He mixed the combustible antimony trisulfide, the oxidizing agent potassium chlorate, manganese dioxide and gum into a paste and applied it to a small wooden stick soaked in paraffin to make a match head. He made a thick paste of red phosphorus and fine sand and applied it to the top of the match box. Shape the sides into chapais. In this way, the match head will only light if it rubs against the sand on the side of the match box. This kind of match is neither poisonous nor easy to cause fire, so it is called "safety match". However, because yellow phosphorus matches did not deteriorate easily and could adapt to different climatic conditions, they remained popular until the end of the 19th century. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that safety matches completely replaced yellow phosphorus matches, which were banned by various countries. Andersen was born in 1805 and died in 1875. The era he lived in was the period when yellow phosphorus matches were used, so the little girl in "The Little Match Girl" could light matches on the wall. From unsafe matches to safe matches, it reflects the progress of human science and technology from one side. Waterproof matches have now appeared. With the continuous development of science and technology, matches with specific functions will surely come out one after another.