Have You Ever Wondered About the History of Fireworks?

I started digging into the history of fireworks a little bit, and became quickly intrigued. With the 4th of July coming near, you're going to be hearing about fireworks everywhere you go. Buy 6 for the price of 1! Buy 1, get 200 free! The deals are going to abound by the thousands. But how did they begin? What brought about the introduction of fireworks to modern society?

Many people claim that gunpowder was accidentally invented by a cook in china about 2000 years ago. He was mixing saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur together and found that when heated over a fire they dried to a flaky black powder. When this powder was ignited, it burned and had a loud bang. It was then that they also discovered how the gun powder would explode when enclosed in a tube and ignited. The Chinese would fill bamboo sticks with the gun powder and throw it in a fire, creating the first fire crackers. When learning about the history of firecrackers, it also became evident that the Chinese believed they would scare off evil spirits.

This would cause fireworks to play a large part in any and all celebrations, including weddings, religious ceremonies, births, deaths, and birthdays. Perhaps the biggest use of fireworks happened during the Chinese New Year. The fireworks were used in order to bring in the New Year free of evil spirits. The Chinese also found out the effectiveness of using gunpowder as a weapon. They would fire rockets into the air that would then shoot arrows at their enemies during the battles against the Mongols. It has also been rumored that they shot rats from these rockets as well, in order to scare their enemies. To this day, China is still the main producer for gunpowder and fireworks in the world.

Fireworks were further developed after they were brought to Europe, around the 13th century. Most people say that Marco Polo is the one who brought it back to Europe, but others claim that it was the Crusaders returning from their journeys. Once in Europe, the history of fireworks takes a more drastic turn from enjoyment to weaponry. The Europeans used the gunpowder in rockets, canons, and guns. It wasn't until the Italians got a-hold of it that it was used for developing firecrackers again.

Italy and Germany emerged as the fireworks leaders during the 18th century. Shortly after that, the English became interested in fireworks and they became very popular in Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth I loved the fireworks so much that she created a position called "Fire Master of England". During its existence in Europe, gunpowder was eventually refined to the most explosive ratio of ingredients. These ratios are still used in gunpowder that is created today.

From here, the history of fireworks takes its final turn to where they are today. The Italians learned how to add color to their fireworks, although they could only produce yellows and oranges. It wasn't until the 19th century that firework creators were able to add reds, greens, blues, white sparkles, and flashes to the fireworks. Recently, pyrotechnicians have even been able to arrange the fireworks into simple pictures and spell out words with them.

The history of fireworks is a history that has been relatively stable throughout the years. Once the Europeans discovered the proper ratio for gunpowder, the only thing that has changed is what they are able to do with it. Pyrotechnicians are still learning new things all the time, trying to discover new colors and effects. Although thousands of years old, fireworks still fascinate everybody as much as they did in their early years.