The history of fireworks
Two thousand years ago fireworks have been discovered,
but it was not deliberate it just happened by chance in China. It is thought that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed three common kitchen ingredients. He heat the materials over a fire and dry them to give a black unstable powder which burned with a loud bang when he rekindle it. This early mixture has come to be known in our modern world today as gun powder. The Chinese named this incredible black powder "huo yao" ("Fire Chemical") and developed it more. The mixture was inserted inside a bamboo stick and when thrown into a fire, the gases produced by the ignited burning powder inside caused an immense buildup of pressure. The basic fire cracker was born. Subsequently, fire crackers played an vital part to Chinese festivities, weddings, religious rituals cause for celebration heard their crack due to the faith that they were thought to be powerful enough to fright off evil spirits. Previously, the knowledge of fireworks began to spread to the west. It is believed that Marco Polo on one of his many journeys to China transfer this invention to the Middle East where they brought it to England. An English Scholar by the name of Roger Bacon (1214-1294) was one of the first Europeans to study gunpowder and write about it and realized that it was the Salt Peter (KNO3) that was the responsible. He knew his findings had the dangerous potential of warfare. So, he wrote it in code. This code was not deciphered for hundreds of years. In 1560 that European Chemists managed to make gunpowder as possible by experimenting with the percentage of the ingredients. The final proportion was set as follows: 1) Salt Peter 75% 2) Charcoal 15% 3) Sulphur 10% |