2007-12-04 13:50:32 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Matches have been around for a while. They were invented by the ancient Chinese. But they didn't come into wide use in the western world until 1805. Before that, people used tinderboxes, which contained flint, steel, and small pieces of flammable material, like bits of wood or straw. You would strike the flint on the steel and create a spark, which you'd then use to light the wood or straw on fire. You'd use that like a match. So, not too different.
2007-12-04 13:57:51 · answer #1 · answered by Rachel P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had always thought flint and steel were the principle means of starting fires. Then I saw a documentary on Mountain Men and they mentioned burning glasses.
That hadn't occurred to me before, but it's quite plausible, since a small magnifying lens would be easy to carry, provided you could keep it from getting broken, and it would work very well.
2007-12-04 23:40:13 · answer #2 · answered by william_byrnes2000 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People were pretty GOOD at rubbing two sticks together- I imagine! -So I'm not so sure that we're any better off now, that we're DEPENDENT on having matches all the time...
2007-12-04 22:00:46 · answer #3 · answered by Joseph, II 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋