In my neighborhood, the Fourth of July now lasts at least a week, with folks shooting off fireworks night after night after night after night. The sad thing is that I can rarely see the fireworks. I can only hear them. In the wee hours. When I’m trying to sleep. As long as I’m awake, I might as well look up some fun facts about fireworks.
A brief history of fireworks
200 B.C.E. — Folks in ancient China discover that if you throw a bamboo stalk into the fire, it will explode with a bang. These exploding sticks were subsequently used to scare off invaders and evil spirits.
600-900 C.E. — Chinese alchemists working to make an elixir for eternal life accidentally make gunpowder instead. (Oh, the irony.) Stuffing bamboo sticks with this black powder created sparklers, and these became an important part of cultural celebrations.
1046 — Chinese military engineers quickly figure out ways to turn fireworks into weapons. They use bows to shoot exploding arrows, make a gunpowder catapult and, according to Smithsonian magazine, even strap fireworks to rats and send them scurrying toward the enemy.
1200s — Fireworks make their way to Europe, where they are used to make fun, not war. For example, in 1486, Henry VII has fireworks at his wedding.
1777 — America’s first Fourth of July celebration includes fireworks. But they are not red, white or blue. At this point, fireworks only come in one color: orange.
1830s — Italian pyrotechnicians discover you can make colored fireworks by adding chemicals to the mix: strontium and lithium compounds for red; titanium and magnesium for silver and white; calcium for orange; sodium for yellow; barium for green. Copper makes blue — which is the most difficult color to produce.
By the numbers
322.7 million: Pounds of fireworks bought by consumers in 2024, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.
27.4 million: Pounds of fireworks used in displays in 2024.
14,741: Fireworks injuries in 2024.
50 milligrams: Legal limit of explosive material in a consumer firework (about half the size of an aspirin).
99: Percentage of fireworks the U.S. imports from China.
1: Number of times my cousins shot off a bottle rocket and almost set the neighbor’s house on fire.
All of them: Number of dogs traumatized on the Fourth of July.
The language of fireworks
The terms used to describe the types of big display fireworks can be quite poetic. Here are some definitions from the APA:
Peony: A spherical break of colored stars — the most commonly seen type.
Dahlia: Similar to peony, but with fewer and larger stars.
Chrysanthemum: Similar to peony, but with stars that leave visible trails of sparks.
Falling Leaves: Stars twinkle and flutter down.
Crackling Rain: Large, slow-burning stars that leave a trail of glittering sparks.
Spider: Stars travel outwards in straight lines, looking like the legs of a spider.
Waterfall: Long-tailed stars fall toward the ground.
Brocade: Stars fall slowly in an umbrella pattern.
Cake: A cluster of fireworks, linked by a fuse, that fire off rapidly. These can sometimes have more than 1,000 shots. You see these a lot as part of a firework show’s finale. You can have your cake, but please don’t eat it. There are enough stupid fireworks injuries as it is.