Engineers

John Walker

Citation Formats

General Reference

Technology and Engineering Atlas. "John Walker." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://technology.interactiveatlas.org/engineers/john-walker-inventor.

APA Style

Technology and Engineering Atlas. (n.d.). John Walker. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://technology.interactiveatlas.org/engineers/john-walker-inventor

BibTeX

@misc{technologyandengineeringatlas-john-walker,
  author = {Technology and Engineering Atlas},
  title = {John Walker},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://technology.interactiveatlas.org/engineers/john-walker-inventor},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

English chemist and pharmacist in Stockton-on-Tees credited with inventing the first commercially successful friction match, in either 1826 or 1827.

Facts

Birth Year

1781 1

Birth Date

1781-05-29 1

Death Year

1859 1

Death Date

1859-05-01 1

Nationality

English 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Invented

Match

Source Match (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. John Walker, inventor (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationLead section

Quote, Lead section

John Walker (29 May 1781 - 1 May 1859) was an English chemist and pharmacist credited with inventing the friction match, the first commercially successful friction match, in either 1826 or 1827.

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Match (Wikipedia)

WikipediaInvented: Match, History section (inventor attribution)

Quote, Invented: Match, History section (inventor attribution)

The first commercially successful friction match was invented by John Walker, an chemist and pharmacist in Stockton-on-Tees, England.

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