Fireworks

They may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and silver.

[6] During the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), people threw bamboo stems into a fire to produce an explosion with a loud sound.

[7] During the Song dynasty, people manufactured the first firecrackers comprising tubes made from rolled sheets of paper containing gunpowder and a fuse.

In 1110, according to the Dreams of the Glories of the Eastern Capital, a large fireworks display mounted by the military was held to entertain Emperor Huizong of Song (r.

"earth rat") went off near the Empress Dowager Gong Sheng and startled her during a feast held in her honor by her son Emperor Lizong of Song (r.

[13] Such application appears in the Huolongjing (14th century) and Wubeizhi (preface of 1621, printed 1628), which describes recipes, several of which used low-nitrate gunpowder, to create military signal smokes with various colors.

[13] In the Wubei Huolongjing (武備火龍經; Ming, completed after 1628), two formulas appears for firework-like signals, the sanzhangju (三丈菊) and baizhanglian (百丈蓮), that produces silver sparkles in the smoke.

[13] These included, for instance, arsenical sulphide for yellow, copper acetate (verdigris) for green, lead carbonate for lilac-white, and mercurous chloride (calomel) for white.

"[16] In 1758, the Jesuit missionary Pierre Nicolas le Chéron d'Incarville, living in Beijing, wrote about the methods and composition of Chinese fireworks to the Paris Academy of Sciences, which published the account five years later.

Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 to celebrate the Peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which had been declared the previous year.

Subsequent developments revealed that oxidations with the chlorates of barium, strontium, copper, and sodium result in intense emission of bright colors.

Many of the chemicals used in the manufacture of fireworks are non-toxic, while many more have some degree of toxicity, can cause skin sensitivity, or exist in dust form and are thereby inhalation hazards.

The "time" refers to the fact that these stars burn away gradually, as opposed to the standard brocade "rain" effect where a large amount of glitter material is released at once.

[34] Fireworks produce smoke and dust that may contain residues of heavy metals, sulfur-coal compounds and some low concentration toxic chemicals.

Some fishers have noticed and reported to environmental authorities that firework residues can hurt fish and other water-life because some may contain toxic compounds (such as antimony sulfide[35][36][37][38] or arsenic[39]).

For example, in 2003, a federal district court in California found that Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) applied because perchlorate is ignitable and therefore a "characteristic" hazardous waste.

[citation needed] What is not disputed is that most consumer fireworks leave behind a considerable amount of solid debris, including both readily biodegradable components as well as nondegradable plastic items.

Some companies within the U.S. fireworks industry claim they are working with Chinese manufacturers to reduce and ultimately hope to eliminate of the pollutant perchlorate.

The types of fireworks available to the public are multi-shot "cakes", Roman candles, single shot shooters, ground and wall spinners, fountains, cones, sparklers, and various novelties, such as smoke bombs and Pharaoh's serpents.

[64] Fireworks are an essential element of popular festival in Catalonia, especially the patron saint day for each Catalan town or city, usually called Festa Major.

[65] The Correfoc (firerun) is an element of many festivals, in which crews of diables (devils) dance through the streets to beating drums, holding maces above their heads upon which are mounted carretilles which spin, producing a shower of sparks culminating in an explosive pop.

Pyrotechnics feature in several other Catalan festes: Nit de San Joan (St. John’s Night, June 14) townsfolk set off rockets from all over town and light bonfires.

[67] The correfoc of the festa major of Vilanova i la Geltrú culminates in a sostre de foc (ceiling of fire) during which a mass of coets attached to wires are strung above the central plaza enabling the assembled multitude to be showered with sparks and explosions from the sky.

Street vendors set up stalls to sell various drinks and staple Japanese food (such as yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, kakigōri (shaved ice), and traditionally held festival games, such as kingyo-sukui, or goldfish scooping.

Even today, men and women attend these events wearing the traditional yukata, summer kimono, or jinbei, and gather in large social circles of family or friends to sit picnic-like, eating and drinking, while watching the show.

When the islands were ruled by the Order of St John, fireworks were used on special occasions such as the election of a new Grand Master, the appointment of a new Pope or the birth of a prince.

The festival runs from July to August every year, and the winner returns in 18 November for the fireworks display on the night before the National Day of Monaco.

The Guardian newspaper said in 2008 that Britain's biggest Guy Fawkes night events were:[76] The main firework celebrations in the UK are by the public who buy from many suppliers.

[citation needed] The first celebration of Independence Day was in 1777, six years before Americans knew whether or not the new nation would survive the war; fireworks were a part of all festivities.

Though based in the US, membership of the Pyrotechnics Guild International, Inc. (PGI)[82] is annual convention founded in 1969, it hosts some the world's biggest fireworks displays occur.