It’s almost our Independence Day! You know what that means? Time to fire off some sparkly ammunition into the sky. Here are some fun facts about fireworks . . . You can use them to wow everybody at your Fourth of July picnic:
1. Fireworks were invented around 200 B.C. by the ancient Chinese. They found that roasting dry bamboo caused it to explode and make a cracking sound. This became a staple of their New Year’s Eve celebrations, where people would use these “bamboo bombs” to ward off the evil spirit, Nian.
2. In the 1830s, Italians figured out how to add colors to fireworks. They were the first to use metal salts, which would emit bright colors when heated up.
3. We’re still figuring out how to make BLUE fireworks. It’s the hardest one to create because it’s made with copper chloride, which starts to break down at the temperature needed for most fireworks.
4. The largest firework display of all time was the New Year’s celebration in the Philippines in 2016. It started at the stroke of midnight, and continued for over an hour in the pouring rain. 810,904 fireworks were used.
5. In America, fireworks are partially legal in 33 of the states . . . In 13 states, they are fully legal . . . In Hawaii, Nevada, and Wyoming it is up to each individual county . . . And in Massachusetts, fireworks are completely ILLEGAL.
6. Legal fireworks can only have a maximum of “50 milligrams of pyrotechnic composition.” And if it’s missing a warning label, it’s probably illegal.
(If you want a more in-depth breakdown of the history of fireworks, click here.)
