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For hundreds of years, even before Francis Scott Key
wrote of seeing "the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,"
people have been awed by the bright lights and big noise of
fireworks. The ancient Chinese used fireworks at festivities and to
frighten enemies in battle. Captain John Smith set them off in
Jamestown in 1608, enjoying a bit of English popular entertainment
and impressing Native Americans.
Smoky Origins
Legend has it that the Chinese made the first
fireworks in the 800s, filling bamboo shoots with gunpowder and
exploding them at the New Year with the hope that the sound would
scare away evil spirits. According to tradition, Marco Polo brought
this technology back to Europe.
It's fair to say, however, that the origins of
fireworks are shrouded in smoke; the China story is widespread, and
possibly true, but fireworks may in fact have developed in India or
the Arab world. Fireworks became known in Europe during the 1300s,
probably after returning Crusaders brought them from the East.
By the 1400s Florence, Italy, was the centre of
fireworks manufacturing. At this time fireworks were just one effect
in a celebration rather than its focus. At religious festivals
Italians made plaster figures that spewed fireworks from their eyes
and mouths. The 1533 coronation parade for Anne Boleyn included a
papier-mâché dragon that belched fire.
During the 1700s displays became more elaborate and
were popular with European royalty. French King Louis XV ordered
extravagant displays of fireworks at Versailles, and Russian Czar
Peter the Great put on a five-hour show after the birth of his son.
Meanwhile, in the American colonies settlers used fireworks to mark
happy occasions.
Today fireworks are a key part of celebrating
Independence Day in the United States, Guy Fawkes' Day in the United
Kingdom, Bastille Day in France, and Diwali and New Year festivities
around the world.
Colour by Fire
| COMMON COLOURS |
Early fireworks
were enjoyed more for the sound than the show - in its
simplest forms gunpowder explodes quickly, leaving a
terrific bang but not much to see other than a rather
brief golden glow. Over time people discovered that
using chemical compounds with greater amounts of oxygen
made the explosives burn brighter and longer.
The multi-hued displays we know now began in the
1830s, when Italians added trace amounts of metals that
burn at high temperatures, creating beautiful colours.
Other additives also produced interesting effects. For
example, calcium deepens colours, titanium makes sparks,
and zinc creates smoke clouds. |
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Blue |
Copper salts |
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Gold |
Aluminium, magnesium |
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Green |
Barium salts |
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Red |
Strontium salts |
| White |
Aluminium, magnesium |
| Yellow |
Sodium salts |
DIY Fireworks
Armed with this knowledge, some aficionados enjoy
trying to create their own fireworks. But these creations are even
more dangerous and unpredictable than legal fireworks. Because
homemade fireworks are often made from parts of other fireworks,
they can contain deadly amounts of explosive powders.
In 1999 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
reported 8,500 fireworks-related emergency-room visits - about
two-thirds of these in July. And there's no tally of the countless
blistered hands, traumatized pets, singed shrubs, and melted G.I.
Joe dolls. Experts recommend leaving the fireworks spectacle to the
professionals and limiting your flame-tending interests to the
barbecue. |
