This serendipitous invention of gunpowder appears to have occurred about years ago, with exploding firecrackers produced later during the Song dynasty by a Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liu Yang in Hunan Province.
These firecrackers were bamboo shoots filled with gunpowder. They were exploded at the commencement of the new year to scare away evil spirits. Much of the modern focus of fireworks is on light and color, but loud noise known as "gung pow" or "bian pao" was desirable in a religious firework, since that was what frightened the spirits. By the 15th century, fireworks were a traditional part of other celebrations, such as military victories and weddings.
The Chinese story is well-known, though it's possible fireworks really were invented in India or Arabia. In addition to exploding gunpowder for firecrackers, the Chinese used gunpowder combustion for propulsion. Handcarved wooden rockets, shaped like dragons, shot rocket-powered arrows at the Mongol invaders in Explorers took knowledge of gunpowder, fireworks, and rockets back with them when they returned home. Arabians in the 7th century referred to rockets as Chinese arrows.
Marco Polo is credited with bringing gunpowder to Europe in the 13th century. The crusaders also brought the information with them. Many fireworks are made in much the same way today as they were hundreds of years ago. However, some modifications have been made.
Modern fireworks may include designer colors, like salmon, pink, and aqua, that weren't available in the past. In , Disneyland in California starting launching fireworks using compressed air rather than gunpowder.
Electronic timers were used to explode the shells. That was the first time the launch system was used commercially, allowing for increased accuracy in timing so shows could be put to music and reducing smoke and fumes from big displays. Contrary to myth, it was not simply used for fireworks but was put to military uses from its time of discovery. Eventually, this secret weapon leaked out to the rest of the medieval world. Ancient alchemists in China spent centuries trying to discover an elixir of life that would render the user immortal.
One important ingredient in many of the failed elixirs was saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate. During the Tang Dynasty , around A. This mixture had no discernable life-lengthening properties, but it did explode with a flash and a bang when exposed to an open flame. According to a text from that era, "smoke and flames result, so that [the alchemists'] hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down.
Many western history books over the years have stated that the Chinese used this discovery only for fireworks, but that is not true. Song Dynasty military forces as early as A. These weapons included "flying fire" fei huo , an arrow with a burning tube of gunpowder attached to the shaft. Flying fire arrows were miniature rockets, which propelled themselves into enemy ranks and inspired terror among both men and horses.
It must have seemed like fearsome magic to the first warriors who were confronted with the power of gunpowder. Other Song military applications of gunpowder included primitive hand grenades, poisonous gas shells, flamethrowers and landmines. The first artillery pieces were rocket tubes made from hollow bamboo shoots, but these were soon upgraded to cast metal. McGill University professor Robin Yates notes that the world's first illustration of a cannon comes from Song China, in a painting from about A.
This depiction was made a century and a half before Europeans began to manufacture artillery pieces. By the mid- to late-eleventh century, the Song government had become concerned about gunpowder technology spreading to other countries. The sale of saltpeter to foreigners was banned in Nonetheless, knowledge of the miraculous substance was carried along the Silk Road to India , the Middle East, and Europe. One image shows a man wearing a hat in the form of a castle with fireworks and smoke shooting up from the towers, and interestingly, what looks like a smoking artichoke.
This imposing castle on the banks of the river Tiber was originally constructed by the emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for his family, before being converted into a fortress and later a papal residence. Fireworks were set off from the building from the late 15th century, and continue to be shown there to this day. The performance consisted first of an illumination of the castle using tallow candles and illuminated figures of stars and coats of arms placed around the outside of the building.
The finale was a great volley of rockets. Biringuccio tells us they were:. Constructed so that after they have moved upwards with a long tail and seem to be finished they burst and each one sends forth anew six or eight rockets. The effect was a huge explosion of fire and noise and smoke, which spectators compared to the heavens falling to the earth or the fires of hell — a truly apocalyptic experience. By the 16th century, firework festivals similar to the Girandola had spread to northern Europe.
Styles of display proliferated and diversified. Most fireworks in this period were court spectacles, staged to celebrate princes and their actions, and often involved elaborate scenery, artificial castles, figures of monsters, and an array of exotic pyrotechnics.
Queen Elizabeth I also enjoyed fireworks displays in the s. German princes staged mock battles and pyrotechnic pantomimes featuring contests between giant dragons and fire-spouting whales.
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