Fireworks
Published on Nov 18, 2015
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During the Song Dynasty, Fire crackers were invented. They were originally made out of a paper tube and were filled with gun powder.
In the Han dynasty they had green chunks of bamboo. They were used as fuel for the fire as it ran out. The rods would sit there a bit and roast, but after a while, the pockets of air inside the bamboo would explode. It would make a loud long bang sound.
The firecrackers were invented by a man named Li Tian. Most crackers were used to ward off evil spirits, for it scared of animals and the Chinese thought it would do the same.
In 1292, the explorer Marco Polo bought fireworks back to Italy from the orient. The fireworks were then transformed into a way of art and expression by the Italians. They started to develop new ways of constructing them to.
Kings in Europe began to have fireworks at their religious festivals, weddings, and coronation ceremonies as a way of showing their wealth.
During the 1500s and 1700s, the "Dragon" firework was very popular. It was very big and had a massive wooden framework, it was also decorated with paper mâché scales. It was filled with fireworks which would shoot out of it's mouth to make it look like a fire breathing dragon.
In the 1530s, "green men" were introduced. They were the people who would run around igniting the fireworks. They would dress in leaves and put soot on their face to protect them from the sparks. "Fire-masters" was also a term given to those who ignited the flames.
1560 was the year when European Chemists discovered how to make gun powder even more explosive. They had organised special ratios and ingredients to achieve this.
85% salt peter
15% Charcoal
10% sulfur
Gun Powder is very important when making fireworks, in fact, it's one of the main ingredients.
Photo by Stuck in Customs
In the 1600's settlers took fireworks to America. They used the fireworks to scare of the natives. The fireworks were also continued to be used in celebrations.
There were only orange sparks from black powder fireworks, and white sparks from metal powder fireworks for 1000 years. But in the 1830s in South Italy, pyrotechnicians (fire masters) discovered how to make reds, greens, blues, and yellows by adding metallic salt and a chlorinated powder to the recipe for fireworks.
Fireworks have changed very much over all these years, and without the ancient Chinese, we probably wouldn't have those spectacular light displays we call fireworks today. They went from chunks of bamboo that went bang, to massive balls of light that explode in the sky.
Photo by poppet with a camera
