Phosphorus, Matchstick Girls, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery (Part 2)

Phosphorus, which means "light bringer” in Greek, is the “morning star” god of the planet Venus. Mass manufacturing of friction matches using phosphorous ramped up after the 1830s, and factory-manufactured matches were literally made by hand—thousands and thousands per day—the tips dipped into a chemical soup of sulfur and antimony, baked to dry, and finally coated in white phosphorus for the quick strike. But conditions in the match factories were horrible. Which led to the matchgirl strike, which led to unions. All bought to you by the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery Podcast.