- Firecrackers appeared about 1,000 years ago and are traditionally credited to the Chinese, although India is also a likely source. Early firecrackers had bamboo cases or rolled paper tubes and were filled with gun powder.
- Many believe that the discovery of fireworks was actually an accident. Bamboo has hollow pockets of air that will explode when heated up. It is thought that someone in China put some bamboo in a fire and the bamboo exploded.
- In 1292, Marco Polo brought back firecrackers from the Orient to his birthplace of Italy. The Italians were fascinated by them and started adding chemicals to produce different colors. They also developed shells that could be launched and would explode at high altitudes.
- The first Independence Day celebration was in 1777 and fireworks were a part of the revels.
- The colors in fireworks are controlled by special chemicals and when mixed with other chemicals, they cause the different colors we see. The color red is made with strontium and lithium salts. To make orange, they use calcium salts. Gold uses iron and charcoal. Sodium compounds make the yellows. White comes from magnesium and aluminum. They use barium and chlorine to make green. Copper makes the color blue. Purple is from a mix of strontium and copper. Silver is made with burning metals, such as aluminum.
- The American Pyrotechnics Assoc. estimates that more than 14,000 fireworks displays light up the skies each 4th of July.
- In 2010, 316 million dollars worth of fireworks were used in U.S. public displays. U.S. consumers purchased another 636 million dollars worth for personal use.
Fun Facts About Fireworks!
July 1, 2012 by
