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Interesting Facts About Fireworks

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:10:00 +0000

Interesting Facts About Fireworks

It is generally accepted that fireworks were first discovered about 2000 years ago in China. The Chinese use fireworks regularly in all religious functions and celebrations, with the belief that the noise that they set off will frighten evil spirits. Fireworks were also used regularly in other Asian countries like Thailand and India. Although it is likely that the tradition of using fireworks for important religious and social occasions in all these countries had its origin in the belief that they could be useful in warding off evil spirits, today the greater motivation comes perhaps from the desire to have fun. Unlike the UK and other western countries, the sale and use of fireworks in many other countries are not strictly regulated, and almost anyone can buy and use them without many restrictions.

Fireworks in Britain

Fireworks were brought to the western world by the well-known globetrotter Marco Polo and European crusaders from the Middle East. In England the first recorded display of fireworks took place in 1486 during the wedding of King Henry VII. Later King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I made them popular. During this period, fireworks attained respectability and royal recognition. The position of a fireworks master was created by Queen Elizabeth I to take professional charge of all fireworks displays. It was left to King James II to elevate this position to the level of nobility when he knighted a fireworks master in recognition of a spectacular and exceptional display organized by him at the coronation ceremony of the king.

Fireworks in Europe

The Italians have been major contributors to the development of fireworks as an engaging form of art, adding variety and fascination to the shows. Florence in Italy had become a centre of fireworks manufacture by the 15th century. The Italians regularly used plaster figures that gave out fire from their eyes and mouths in their festivals. The coronation ceremony of Anne Boleyn was perhaps one of the first royal occasion in which such a display was employed. Subsequently, fireworks gained popularity among the royalty of Europe. King Louis XV of France encouraged extravagant fireworks displays. The credit for organizing one of the longest shows in those early days probably should go to the Czar of Russia, Peter the Great, when a five hour long show was held to celebrate the birth of a son to the czar.

Some interesting facts

The Japanese word for firecrackers reflects the popular view that fireworks are an art form and a matter of great beauty. Fireworks in Japanese are called hanabi, which literally means fire-flower.

The largest single firework was organized by the Japanese at a festival in 1988 with a single shell that weighed more than half a ton, and burst over an area that spread over a kilometre across.

A string of firecrackers that went on and on lasting 22 hours marked the New Years day celebrations in Hong Kong in 1996.

Static electricity in synthetic clothing can set off firecrackers. Because of this, people making firecrackers wear only cotton clothing while making firecrackers.

The biggest annual fireworks display event in Europe is the International Festival concert held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in which as many as a million fireworks are set off in less than an hour.

Funchal city of Madeira Island organized a Guinness world record event in fireworks with a display that included 17 tons of fireworks, and more than 660, 000 detonations that lasted for eight minutes.

University of Plymouth Scientist Roy Lowry claims to have set a new record by setting off 55,000 rockets in five seconds.

The Spirit of Springfield, which was set up in 1989 to promote community activities in the area organizes hi-tech 4th of July celebrations that is full of interesting facts. The show is studded with choreography, music and fireworks fired by a computer programme and involving massive inputs in terms of manpower, setup time and equipment that includes several miles of wire, tons of sand, and lumber that is sufficient to build an average sized house. The fireworks show features designer shells from a more than half a dozen countries.

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History of Fireworks

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:09:00 +0000

History of Fireworks

The history of fireworks dates back to nearly two thousand years. A cook in China is generally supposed to have discovered fireworks accidentally when he mixed three ingredients that were commonly used in the kitchen in those days, namely sulphur, charcoal and potassium nitrate (salt peter). When these three ingredients were dried and lighted, the mixture was found to ignite. When this mixture was packed into a closed bamboo tube and lit, it built up an enormous pressure and exploded. The Chinese gave this the name ‘huo yao”, which literally means fire chemical. There are other theories about the origin of fireworks that suggest that it might have been of a more recent origin, dating back to a little over 1000 years, and invented by a Chinese monk who lived in the Hunan province in China. In any case, it is generally accepted that the Chinese invented fireworks more than at least one thousand years ago.

Celebrating with fireworks

Fireworks were initially used during religious ceremonies, celebrations such as birthdays, and other special occasions, as indeed they are till today. The reason for using fireworks in religious functions and celebrations seems to lie in the belief that the loud bang created by fireworks had the capacity to frighten away evil spirits.

As time passed it was but natural that someone should see the potential of this explosive substance in warfare. It is said that the Chinese themselves were aware of this soon after they discovered fireworks and used it to develop weapons such as fire arrows that had a great effect on their enemies.

Fireworks in Warfare

It is believed that fireworks were brought to the west by Marco Polo, who was a frequent visitor to China, and European crusaders in the Middle East. The potential of these chemicals for causing destruction did not escape the early scholars in the West, but it was almost another 300 years before scientists could work out the exact formula that could become lethal, and cause a sufficiently strong explosion. They discovered that a mixture of Salt Peter, Charcoal, and Sulphur in the proportion of 75%, 15% and 10% respectively produced the desired results, and graduated to employing gunpowder in warfare using these proportions, which incidentally are valid even today.

The use of gunpowder revolutionized warfare disarming most invincible defences of the day. Thus canons and guns made armours and fort walls susceptible to being broken down and penetrated.

Fireworks as an art form

Although military uses of gunpowder did revolutionize warfare, the recreational and artistic aspects of fireworks did not lose their sheen. Fireworks are as popular the world over today as a means of celebration as they were in the earlier days of their history. The Italians have played a great part in developing fireworks into a truly art form. Italians developed new applications that could provide a variety of visual delights. Some of the products that the Italians developed included aerial shells that could shoot up into the air and explode or burst into a fountain of colours at a great height. They also developed a number of fireworks that operated at the ground level. They discovered a powder that burnt more slowly and gave out sparks of different colons when contained in an open-ended tube. More elaborate forms were developed using rocket engines that made them to rotate and give off circular sparks of different colours. As the art form developed, the industry employed specialists and professionals from other fields such as masons, carpenters and painters. The Germans are also credited with having contributed to the development of fireworks. The American fireworks industry is dominated by these groups.

Fireworks also became popular in England and enjoyed royal support in many cases. The eighteenth century saw fireworks become a matter of public displays in England rather than for the private pleasure of Royalty alone. The English can be credited with popularising fireworks as huge crowds from all over Europe were attracted to fireworks displays at amusement parks in England.

China has continued to dominate the fireworks production scene in the world with its Hunan and Jiangxi provinces accounting for a major share of the world trade in fireworks. Earlier these were channelled through state owned marketing corporations that sold to the world through intermediaries in Hong Kong. With the opening up of the Chinese economy, direct trade has taken over in most cases.

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Fireworks how they work

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:02:00 +0000

Fireworks how they work

Fireworks have a history going back thousands of years. It is generally believed that they were accidentally discovered by a cook in China using commonly available kitchen ingredients. The ingredients that went into the first fireworks were charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulphur. These ingredients along with some additions are used in fireworks, firecrackers and sparklers to this day.

What goes into fireworks

A firecracker is made by adding these ingredients into a tight paper tube, along with a fuse that is inserted into the tube to help ignite the mixture. A firecracker may also contain aluminium to add brightness to the explosion. A sparkler burns for a longer time giving out bright colours and a shower of sparks that can be varied by changing the composition. A sparkler contains the same basic ingredients – charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulphur – but they are mixed in a different proportion than that used in a firecracker so that they burn more slowly. In addition, a binder such as starch or sugar is added to form a slurry that is poured into a tube or coated on a wire. Once this dries, the sparkler is ready to burn. To create bright sparks, aluminium, zinc, magnesium or steel dust is added. These materials heat up easily to become incandescent adding to the brightness. The sparklers get their variety of colours from chemicals added for this purpose. As you can see, fireworks can be made to burn and give off a variety of sparks and colours by burning slowly, or to explode suddenly, through the manipulation of the mixture and the addition of appropriate ingredients. Now let’s see how they can be made to generate a variety of fireworks displays that we commonly see.

Aerial fireworks

Aerial fireworks are among the most common types of fireworks that we see at any fireworks display. These shoot up to a considerable height before exploding into a shower of sparkling colours. How do they first rise to such a height and then explode? Basically, aerial fireworks have two components – a shell and a mortar. The shell is the part of fireworks that goes up into the sky and bursts into a display of colourful sparks. The shells of fireworks contain four ingredients – a container, stars, a charge to enable the bursting, and a fuse. The container is usually a spherical or cylindrical item made of paper or board and string. This container is filled with the stars and the bursting charge. The stars are cylindrical, spherical or cubical pieces that burst into the colours that you see in a fireworks display. They are made from the ingredients that go into a sparkler so that they burn with an incandescent light, and depending on the chemicals added, give out different colours. The bursting charge is placed at the centre of the shell and is ignited by a fuse, which also forms part of the shell. The other component of the aerial fireworks, namely the mortar, is what launches the shell into the sky. The mortar is made up of a small metal pipe that is filled with the exploding charge and a fuse. When the fuse is lit, it ignites the charge and causes it to explode, launching the shell into the space above. At the same time, it also ignites the fuse in the shell, which ignites the bursting charge in the shell after the lapse of a suitable interval. By the time this happens, the shell has reached a respectable height, and that is how you see the wonderful display at a great height in the sky.

Adding sophistication

This process can be extended to multiple levels by including more than one shell in fireworks. Subsequent shells can be ignited by each shell as it receives the ignition, causing a time delay between the bursting of different shells. This results in a complicated array of multiple shells that seem to burst one after the other in the sky. This idea can be further extended to create patterns in the sky by arranging the shells in a carefully planned manner and planning their ignition at the right time. This can be used to create a variety of visual effects that result from different shapes, leading to beautiful patterns and captivating fireworks displays.

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