FIREWORKS FACTS

The ancient Chinese used fireworks at festivities and to
frighten enemies in battle. Captain John Smith set them
off in Jamestown in 1608, enjoying a bit of English popular
entertainment and impressing Native Americans.


Legend has it that the Chinese made the first fireworks in
the 800s, filling bamboo shoots with gunpowder and
exploding them at the New Year with the hope that the
sound would scare away evil spirits. According to tradition,
Marco Polo brought this technology back to Europe. However,
fireworks may in fact have developed in India or the Arab
world. Fireworks became known in Europe during the 1300s,
probably after returning Crusaders brought them from the
East.


By the 1400s Florence, Italy, was the center of fireworks
manufacturing. At this time fireworks were just one effect
in a celebration rather than its focus. At religious
festivals Italians made plaster figures that spewed
fireworks from their eyes and mouths. The 1533 coronation
parade for Anne Boleyn included a papier-mache dragon that
belched fire.


During the 1700s displays became more elaborate and were
popular with European royalty. French king Louis XV ordered
extravagant displays of fireworks at Versailles, and
Russian czar Peter the Great put on a five-hour show after
the birth of his son. Meanwhile, in the American colonies
settlers used fireworks to mark happy occasions.