Explosive facts about pyrotechnics

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4 years ago

Fireworks are an unavoidable part of every major celebration, starting from birthdays, through weddings, all the way to festivals, Olympic ceremonies and New Year's celebrations. Today's pyrotechnics work so perfectly that they can be considered the latest marvel of technology. But in fact, man knew about fireworks in ancient times. Read some interesting facts about fireworks.

Where and when the fireworks were made?

The first fireworks were used in ancient China, more than 2,000 years ago. The exact year is not known, although the period of the reign of the Chinese Han dynasty, around 200 BC, is most often mentioned. The ancient Chinese used fireworks for the same purpose it is used today - to mark celebrations and festivals. China is still the world's largest producer of fireworks and pyrotechnics.

From what the first fireworks is made?

The Chinese first used bamboo stalks to make fireworks. When the hollow stem fills with air, it shoots, an explosion occurs. The sound of firing bamboo was believed to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck. Later, the technique was improved, so three ingredients were used to make fireworks: saltpetre, sulfur and coal.

When the fireworks arrived in Europe?

Fireworks are believed to have arrived in Europe thanks to Marco Polo, a famous Italian merchant, researcher, adventurer and world traveler. He brought fireworks to Italy, of course from China, around 1295. Since then, the use of fireworks has begun to spread around the world.

In Great Britain, fireworks were first used at the wedding of King Henry VII, in 1486. Great fans of fireworks were Queen Elizabeth I and King James II. Elizabeth awarded the most talented deminers in England the honorary title of "English Lord of Fire", and James II proclaimed a man a knight who organized fireworks at the coronation ceremony.

The biggest fireworks display ever

The Guinness record for the largest fireworks in the world is held by the New Year's fireworks, which were held on January 1, 2016 in the Philippines. This grandiose fireworks party lasted exactly 1 hour, 1 minute and 32 seconds, and 810,904 various pyrotechnic devices were spent.

Pyrotechnicians have the hardest time producing blue fireworks

Even after so many centuries of fireworks, no one has yet been able to discover the perfect chemical formula that would make light blue fireworks. Unlike blue, some colors are very easy to produce, such as orange, green, red or white.

How the fireworks got colors?

Fireworks were invented in China, but most of the pyrotechnic innovations were introduced by the Italians. They are also credited with the invention of colored fireworks, which happened in 1830. Lights of different colors are created thanks to the combustion of different metals that are in a powder state inside the fireworks. For example, calcium produces an orange color, sodium turns yellow when burned, and barium turns green.

How sounds are made when activating fireworks?

Fireworks sounds can also be determined by combining different chemicals inside the pipe. The cylindrical shape of fireworks is responsible for the whistling sound, characteristic of every fireworks display. Aluminum balls create noise, while the so-called. glitter powder, which is actually a mix of chemical substances, such as sulfur, phosphorus, coal, copper, magnesium, aluminum, zinc, etc., leads to loud, large explosions.

The biggest accident caused by fireworks

In the past, fireworks, due to improper use of pyrotechnics and insufficiently good organization, caused accidents. The deadliest accident caused by fireworks occurred on May 30, 1770, during the wedding ceremony of the Habsburg princess Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI of France. Due to the strong wind, some rockets abruptly changed direction and went directly to the crowd. Frightened people began to flee in panic, and more than 130 people were killed in the stampede.

How much money is spent on fireworks a year?

Fireworks fans around the world spend huge sums every year to purchase pyrotechnics. In 2016, around 662 million dollars were spent on fireworks and pyrotechnics in the world.

Fireworks festivals in Japan

Numerous festivals dedicated to fireworks and pyrotechnics are organized throughout Japan during the summer. The peak is in August, during which more than 800 fireworks are performed. For the Japanese, the main purpose of fireworks is to ward off evil spirits, and it is interesting that, unlike the rest of the world, they do not use fireworks during New Year's celebrations.

These are just some of the interesting facts about fireworks. The Christmas and New Year holidays are approaching, the right time for fireworks.

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4 years ago

Comments

I love watching fireworks, especially for the New Year, in world capitals.

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4 years ago

even i am almost 40 years old i enjoy to throw petards ( i dont know the name in English). Also, fireworks are obvious couple of times during a year

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4 years ago

Ovi Kinezi su cudo.

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4 years ago

Vrlo zanimljiv post! Aktualan je za vrijeme Božićnih i novogodišnjih blagdana! Osobno, nisam ljubitelj petardi, opasne su kako za onoga koji ih koristi, tako i za prolaznike, mogu se ljudi ozlijediti, a ujedno i oštećuje sluh. Više volim vatromet...atraktivniji je i bezopasan...

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4 years ago

The most wonderful thing in the world is fireworks, because of them I love New Year

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4 years ago

Pour two tablespoons of oil into a small glass or container and add a few drops of different dyes. Stir gently to make several tiny drops of dye in the oil from the larger droplets. V a glass pour water to ¾ height and a few cm of oil. Then add the oil with drops of dye. We observe fireworks in the water.

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4 years ago

Nice article by you

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4 years ago

Wonderful one

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4 years ago

Thank you...

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4 years ago

This is interesting:

The Guinness record for the largest fireworks in the world is held by the New Year's fireworks, which were held on January 1, 2016 in the Philippines. This grandiose fireworks party lasted exactly 1 hour, 1 minute and 32 seconds, and 810,904 various pyrotechnic devices were spent.

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4 years ago

Yes, that fact is very fascinating to me too ...

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4 years ago

Veliki decembarski biznis u svijetu, gdje se obrnu milioni i milioni dolara. Ali ima jedna kvaka. Pojavom dronova, vatromet je dobio novu dimenziju, sigurno ste gledali dronovski vatromet, bez pirotehnike, a nimalo manje grandiozan. Da li to može ugroziti klasični vatromet? Ustvari, bilo bi poželjno. Jednom prilikom je Rambo Amadeus izjavio u nekom svom TV gostovanju da jedan veliki vatromet u Sidneju ili sličan, proguta toliko kiseonika u onih 10 minuta ludila, da je taj kisik dovoljan za disanje milion ljudi, ne znam sad na koji vremenski period.

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4 years ago

Ooo, to za kiseonik nisam uopšte znala i stvarno je zapanjujuće!!!!

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4 years ago

The fireworks are so beautiful, great, spectacular ...

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4 years ago

Yes dear! I love fireworks...

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4 years ago

I love fireworks :D

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4 years ago

Me too.... thank you for the comment... :)

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4 years ago

color of firework come from metal ions, Li cherry red, Na - yellow, Mg - white and sparkle, Sr - green, and so on, i enjoy when we experiment with colored flame during my study

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4 years ago

Thanks for this information in the comment ...

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4 years ago

Brilliant

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4 years ago

Thanks for the comment! Greetings!

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4 years ago

I love fireworks. Well done for the article.

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4 years ago

Me too. Thank you so much!

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4 years ago

I don't like pyrotechnics.

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4 years ago

:(

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4 years ago

Great article dear. 💝

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4 years ago

Thanks dear!

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4 years ago

💟

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4 years ago

Great article.

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4 years ago

Thanks...

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4 years ago

Although I know a lot about fireworks, I enjoyed reading the text, and especially watching the clip from the fireworks festival.

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4 years ago

Fireworks from video is very beautiful...

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4 years ago

I don't like pyrotechnics, that's scare dogs and me too, specially when all of the world everybody celebrating a new year.

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4 years ago

Oh yes, pets are afraid of that sound!

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4 years ago

This is very interesting article. I love to read about history of things that are all around of us. For example fireworks. We do not need them to live, but they are interesting, we all love the, and it is good to know something more about them.

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4 years ago

You're right, dear! Fireworks is very interesting...In my opinion, they look so magical!

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4 years ago

Everytime i feel better when i see those fireworks.. It's really amusing 😍

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4 years ago

Yes, There are always special emotions in me ...

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4 years ago

That's so cute😍

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4 years ago

It’s nice to learn these fact

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4 years ago

Of course, I'm so glad that you had read my post!

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4 years ago

When I was little, I was scared of firecracker.. I think I have very big feat to light it up, and my friend were angry, because, they weren't cheap..

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4 years ago

Firecrackers I don’t like anything special, but fireworks are pretty fun for me!

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4 years ago