Ooooo! Ahhhhh! Summer Spectacular

Every summer in America we celebrate the birth of our country with fireworks on the Fourth of July. Have you ever wondered about the history of fireworks?

Most attribute the invention of fireworks to China around A.D. 800. Chinese alchemists, looking for a concoction for eternal life, quite by accident created a crude gunpowder. They formed the very first “firecracker” by packing the mixture into bamboo tubes and throwing them into the fire. The resulting loud blast was believed to keep evil spirits away. Eventually, the design evolved into using paper tubes with attached fuses, and then eventually the tubes were attached to arrows and used as weapons.

With the Crusades and the exploration of Marco Polo, fireworks were introduced to Europe. Pyrotechnic schools became popular during the Renaissance. Students were taught how to create elaborate explosions. In 1830, Italians mixed small amounts of metals and other ingredients to enhance brightness and create shapes. They also mixed various chemicals for additional colors (orange had been the only color previously). According to the American Chemical Society, yellow is produced by sodium, green by barium, blue by copper-chloride, red by strontium and purple by a mix of copper and strontium.

As explorers discovered the New World, fireworks made their way to America. Captain John Smith set off the first fireworks display in America in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1608. On July 4, 1777, fireworks became a Fourth of July tradition. John Adams is quoted as saying, “The date will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

John Adams was spot-on. We still use fireworks 242 years later in celebration of that first declaration of independence. What a wonderful lasting tradition!