Fireworks originated in China around 2000 years ago. The discovery of fireworks was accidental. A Chinese chef mixed charcoal, sulphur, and saltpeter together (all common kitchen ingredients at the time). The discovery of fireworks was during the Sui and Tang dynasties in china during this time the loud bang of firecrackers frightened the Chinese people so they used them to scare off evil spirits. The firecracker was the first form of fireworks. It consisted of 20% sulphur, 15% Charcoal, and 75% saltpeter. Saltpeter is a chemical compound of (KNO3).

 Fireworks were used to celebrate weddings; they were used at parties, and other Celebrations and they still are today.

Fireworks were used at the first Fourth of July celebration in 1777.

Although, the Chinese are credited with the creation of fireworks the Italians made fireworks for the colorful explosions that they are today. To make the colors in fireworks they add other ingredients (usually metals). They have different metals for different colors such as charcoal and sodium chlorate for red and orange and aluminum for silver. One type of large fireworks is a dragon. The dragon is a firework with a large wooden frame covered in paper mache filled with fountains, firecrackers, and rockets. When the dragon is lit it looks like its breathing fire which is why it’s called the Dragon.

When the Chinese invented firecrackers they named them “poa chuk” or bursting bamboo. Gunpowder was brought from China to Europe by Marco Polo. While studying gunpowder European scientists found certain things that should never be mixed with gunpowder such as gunpowder, honey and arsenic disulphide. 

The use of saltpeter is so important to fireworks because its richness in oxygen makes it burn and explode well. After 1200 years of using bamboo tubes for firecracker the Chinese started hard paper tubes for them even though The Europeans started using them first. A European scholar by the name of Roger Bacon was the first to study gunpowder and He wrote about it he wrote “If you light it you will get thunder and lightning if you know the trick”. After the firecracker came the ‘rat’ which is like a basic firecracker except one end of it is covered and one was open so when lit it would shoot across the floor. The name the rat came about because when it was shot the sparks would shoot out the back - this looked like a rat tail. Next they started adding wings on the sides of rats and aiming them upward so they shot into the air creating the first rockets.

The trick to rockets is putting coarse gunpowder in the bottom which makes it shoot into the air and then finer gunpowder so when in the air it will explode. It didn’t take long for the Chinese to realize that the explosion of gunpowder could propel objects. This discovery changed warfare completely. It also ended medieval warfare because metal bullets could penetrate the metal armor. Guns weren’t invented until long after the Chinese made the discovery of using gunpowder to propel objects. The first weapon made with this discovery was the cannon. The cannon gave the Chinese army a great advantage but it wasn’t long before other armies found how to make this advanced weapon for their time period. But even before the cannon they still used gunpowder for important army purposes. First they just threw the firecrackers - usually to scare the other armies off. But eventually they made firecrackers to kill the other armies with the explosion. The Chinese also attached firecrackers to arrows so they would explode when they hit someone. They called them “fire arrows”. When they used firecrackers to kill or scare off the enemies the firecrackers were lit by special teams of the army called Green Men.

The Green Men put the fireworks near other army’s bases and ran a long fuse back to there base and lit it.

Another important thing fireworks are used for is one of the biggest sporting events in the world - The Olympics, Every night a firework show goes on in Orlando, Florida in Disney World. 

 However one of the most important things to remember about fireworks is that even though they are colorful and fun they are extremely dangerous. For example in 1983 one firework lit in a storage building which lit all the rest of them blowing up the building and killing two Grucci Fireworks Company employees.

Another example shows that in 2005 four deaths were caused by fireworks and 10,800 people were sent to the hospital due to injuries caused by fireworks. Now there is an Organization called the A.F.S.L. (American Firework Standards Laboratory) they monitor the production of fireworks. The A.F.S.L. made firework companies change the firework warning labels, according to the size and power of Fireworks. Pyrotechnicians recently discovered that shooting fireworks off of the water made it better because it reflects more light and sound.

  At big firework displays such as baseball game they have lots of fireworks connected to the leader which is connected to the match and that’s connected to the web which is connected to the cable and that’s connected to the fire panel which is used to ignite the fireworks.

All firework companies today store their fireworks in 40ft bunkers called ‘magazines’ surrounded by 20ft mounds of sand so if one blows up it won’t ignite the others. All employees at firework companies

have to wear all cotton clothing to prevent sparks of static electricity. They also have to touch a copper plate (to demagnetize) before entering the building. 

Not all professional fireworks shoot into the air there are some called ‘set fireworks’ and are made out of a Bamboo grid.  The set fireworks have tubes attached to the bamboo grid that let out color producing chemicals and when lit spell out words or pictures.

Set fireworks are often called pyrotechnic lances. During a firework show technicians have headsets that tell them when to shoot the fireworks and which ones to shoot. They also have a way to synchronize the commands and fireworks with music. 

The Grucci family was the first American born family to win the gold medal at the Monty Carlo International Fireworks Competition. Another name for using fireworks professionally is pyrotechnics. To give fireworks color they use Chemicals such as copper for blue and green, sodium compounds for yellow, and strontium compounds for red. In aerial fireworks there are two layers of gunpowder - one is coarse which makes it shoot into the air and the second is very fine and explodes while in the air. 

Roman Candles are a popular type of fireworks. They have separated gunpowder charges that are separated by inactive materials and they shoot out a ball of fire. 

Firework production has come a long way they have gone from bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder to spectacular light shows synced with music. Even though we have come a long way with fireworks we still have trouble with things such as color. It’s extremely hard to make forest green and turquoise fireworks. Fireworks aren’t just about blowing things up it’s an art combined with chemistry. 

There are two types of light Emitters (that’s what gives color to fireworks) there are solids (usually Metals) and gas light emitters. Not only does the type of metal you put in fireworks matter, but also the amount.

Charcoal can make several different colors such as a faint red glow, dark red, bright red, dim orange, bright, orange, pale yellow, bright yellow, and white. The colors also have different wave lengths red having the furthest and blue being the shortest. Common light emitters are D-line for yellow, CaCl is orange, SrCl is red, BaCl is green, and CuCl is blue. 

Some of the more difficult colors in fireworks need more than one substance. Important elements to a Pyrotechnician Li, C, O, Na, Mg, Al, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, Sb, And Ba. These are some different types of Fireworks bottle rockets, sky rockets, roman candles, firecrackers, sparklers, smoke bombs and fountains. Also M-80’s but they are highly illegal. 

Pure monochromatic colors are still only a dream for Pyrotechnicians but some impure colors don’t lag far behind. Monochromatic means only one color which is as of now impossible because the explosion and the chemicals/ingredients that make it explode produces colors like black and gray.

Fireworks have come a long way since 2000 years ago in China to now. They were invented by a Chinese chef, modified by the Italians, and marketed by Americans and Chinese. All fireworks still contain the same three ingredients saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal.      We also have gone from one kind of fireworks (the firecracker) to hundreds of different colorful fireworks varieties.      The dream of monochromatic fireworks may become reality one day with the way fireworks are becoming better all the time.

Image via Wikipedia