QUICK HISTORY OF FIREWORKS:

9th century Discovery by the Chinese 
13th century Marco Polo brings gunpowder back home to Europe 
15th century Gunpowder used in military applications 
16th century Fireworks used increasingly for entertainment purposes 
18th century Fireworks displays begin to incorporate music 
1960 The French at Cannes synchronize a sound track to a fireworks spectacle 
1990 Vancouver's first international fireworks competition 

Discovery in the East
Though many nations claim the invention, most historians agree that the Chinese invented fireworks in the 9th century when they discovered how to make gunpowder. The story is that a Chinese cook toiling in a field kitchen happened to mix three ingredients commonly found in the kitchen - potassium nitrate or saltpeter (a salt substitute), sulfur (a flammable solid) and charcoal (from charred wood).

The cook noticed that, when ignited, the pile burned with a combustible force. The cook apparently also discovered that if these same ingredients were enclosed and then ignited, the combination exploded rather than burned. This explosion produced a loud sound perfect for frightening off spirits, celebrating weddings, and marking battle victories, eclipses of the moon, and the beginning of the New Year.

Another version of the history of fireworks credits Taoist monks with their discovery in the Far East approximately 1000 years ago. Once again, coincidence played a major role. What scientists of the day were looking for was a potion that promised immortality and eternal life. In their experiments, Taoist monks discovered that a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur and finely ground charcoal exploded violently while giving off a great deal of light, noise and smoke. So, they poured the explosive powder into bamboo tubes, blocked the two ends and attached an igniter cord to the charge.

Development in the West
Italy's Marco Polo, in his journeys to the Far East, picked up a number of novelties and brought them home - among them the black powder that evolved into a mainstay of Italian entertainment and celebration: fireworks.

It was in Europe that gunpowder's military potential was discovered and its usage truly evolved - first with rocketry, and then with guns. 

Fireworks were used to celebrate military victories as early as 1532 under Charles V, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Soon fireworks were used increasingly for entertainment purposes, as royal families in Europe competed for the affection of their subjects by staging ever more sophisticated fireworks at coronations, baptisms and marriages.

To Tsar Peter the Great, we owe the custom of burning fireworks to herald the New Year. King Louis XIV was notorious for his lavish fireworks in the pleasure gardens of Versailles.

Italy and Germany emerged as the two leaders in fireworks displays in the 16th to 18th centuries.

Musical fireworks
By the 18th century, music was commonly incorporated into fireworks displays. One famous performance took place in London, England to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. English composer George Friedrich Handel created a symphony, Music for the Royal Fireworks, specifically for this event.

Modern musical fireworks were initiated by the French at Cannes in 1960. They were the first to synchronize a sound track to a fireworks spectacle with chrysanthemum explosions and roman candles. For unknown reasons, this style disappeared for 25 years. Then, in 1985, musical fireworks reappeared in spectacular style with the introduction of an international fireworks competition in Montreal, Quebec.

MORE ON HISTORY OF FIREWORKS

WHO INVENTED FIREWORKS?

Fireworks are thought to have been discovered hundreds of years ago -- long before America even existed. Although historians aren't sure which country discovered them first, most believe this discovery was made in China some 2,000 years ago. Some sources say that the discovery of fireworks occurred about 2,000 years ago, and other sources place the discovery sometime during the 9th century during the Song dynasty (960-1279), although this could be confusion between the discovery of gunpowder by the cook and the invention of the firecracker. Other sources suggest that fireworks may have originated in India, but in the October 18, 2003, online edition of The Hindu, an Indian national newspaper, the Chinese are credited with the discovery of gunpowder.

IN A FLASH

The most prevalent legend has it that black powder, the essential ingredient in fireworks, was discovered or invented by accident by a Chinese cook in the 10th century A.D. working in a field kitchen. A cook was preparing potassium nitrate (a pickling agent and preservative) over a charcoal fire laced with sulfur. Somehow the three chemicals (potassium nitrate or saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur were all commonly found in the kitchen in those days) combined, causing an explosion. The mixture burned and when compressed in an enclosure (a bamboo tube), the mixture exploded. The meal was destroyed, but the powder, later known as gunpowder, was born.

The first fireworks recorded were hollowed out bamboo stalks stuffed with black powder. The Chinese called them "arrows of flying fire," and shot them into the air during religious occasions and holidays to ward off imaginary dragons. According to other Chinese writings, fireworks similar to those we use today were probably used in China before the year A.D. 1175.

A Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liu Yang in Hunan Province, is credited with the invention of firecrackers about 1,000 years ago. The Chinese people celebrate the invention of the firecracker every April 18 by offering sacrifices to Li Tian. During the Song Dynasty, the local people established a temple to worship Li Tian. 

The firecrackers, both then and now, are thought to have the power to fend off evil spirits and ghosts that are frightened by the loud bangs of the firecrackers. Firecrackers are used for such purposes today at most events such as births, deaths and birthdays. Chinese New Year is a particularly popular event that is celebrated with firecrackers to usher in the new year free of the evil spirits.

To this day the Liu Yang region of Hunan Province remains the main production area in the world for fireworks. It is important to remember the geographic origin of fireworks, because often detractors of the fireworks industry say that fireworks are produced in China to take advantage of cheap labor. But the reality is that the fireworks industry existed in China long before the advent of the modern era and long before the disparity in east-west wage rates, and hopefully the fireworks industry will exist long after the existence of communism has an effect over the Chinese economy.

FIREWORKS BEGIN TO SPREAD

Many people believe that Marco Polo brought the Chinese gunpowder back to Europe when he returned from his visits to China and India in the late 1200s. Although some accounts credit the Crusaders with bringing the black powder to Europe as they returned from their journeys. Others think that gunpowder was invented in Europe by people unaware of the Chinese discoveries.

Once in Europe, the black powder was used for military purposes, first in rockets, then in canons and guns. Italians were the first Europeans who used the black powder to manufacture fireworks. Germany was the other European country to emerge as a fireworks leader along with Italy in the 18th century. It is interesting to note that many of the leading American display companies are operated by families of Italian descent such as the Grucci family, Rozzi family, and Zambelli family.

Nevertheless, by the early 1500s, the fireworks industry in Europe was exploding. The first modern public display of fireworks produced in England was in 1553. The English were very fascinated with fireworks. In fact, fireworks became very popular in Great Britain during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Its purpose was to greet the new queen when she arrived in London. William Shakespeare mentions fireworks in his works, and fireworks were so much enjoyed by the Queen herself that she created the position of "Fire Master of England." King James II was so pleased with the fireworks display that celebrated his coronation that he knighted his Fire Master.

FIREWORKS ARRIVE TO AMERICA

According to the fireworks industry's own estimates, as many people have been killed by 4th of July fireworks as were killed in the Revolutionary War. Nearly all of the victims were killed setting off their own fireworks during times when fireworks were almost completely unregulated. The carnage became so widespread that the 4th of July came to be known as the "Bloody Fourth" because of the large number of fireworks deaths.

Then in the 1930s, pressured by the Ladies' Home Journal, which printed photos of dozens of maimed victims), the government outlawed just about every kind of firework imaginable...to the point where many states now ban them entirely. Since then, the number of firework-related injuries plummeted. Today, the Consumer Safety Commission (CSC) ranks them as only the 132nd most dangerous consumer item, behind such things as beds, grocery carts, key rings and plumbing fixtures.

CHINESE FIREWORKS INDUSTRY
In the modern era, the American fireworks industry really began to influence Chinese manufacturers following President Nixon's normalization of relations with the Chinese Communist government in the early 1970s. Prior to that time, business was being done between U.S. and Chinese companies through Hong Kong brokers with little or no direct contact with mainland manufacturers.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the distribution channels in China were essentially state owned factories producing fireworks that were then exported through government owned provincial export corporations. Products produced in Hunan went through the Hunan Export Corporation, and products produced in Jiangxi went through the Jiangxi Export Corporation, and so on. During this period, factories were not required to make a profit, but rather their goal was to keep people working in a region of China where there was no real industry other than agriculture. The Chinese government subsidized these factories to keep production going. 

The Provincial Export Corporation in turn sold to Hong Kong brokers who were the link between Mainland China and the foreign business entities. The Hong Kong brokers procured orders, arranged logistics, and helped finance shipments to the U.S. distributors. It was also during this time period that the first formally educated leader of China, Chairman Deng Xiaoping, saw what his counterparts in the former Soviet Bloc did not see, and that is that Communism simply did not work economically. Chairman Deng began a policy of economic reform that basically set China on the road toward capitalism.

During the 1980s, China opened up dramatically to travel within its borders for visiting U.S. importers. This enabled the first American fireworks buyers to travel to the production regions and establish relations with Hong Kong exporters and the provincial export corporations.

SAFETY REGULATIONS IN THE U.S.
In the late 1980s, consumer fireworks became the focus of intense scrutiny by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Up to this point, most of the fireworks products had old generic export corporation labels that had incorrect warning labels based on item size and performance. To correct the situation, representatives from the CPSC, American Pyrotechnics Association, and Hong Brokers Association spent 10 days in Southern China meeting with representatives from each export corporation and factory managers, on a province by province basis.

The meetings involved shooting each item produced in China and determining what the appropriate and correct warning descriptions and print size should be from the point of view of providing safe warning labels for the American consumers. The Americans involved took on the infamous moniker of "The Shekou Six" by most of the shell shocked Chinese industry people, and from that meeting and a few that followed was born the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory (AFSL) which monitors firework production within China to this day.

In the 1990s, economic reform continued under Chairman Jiang Zemin as Chinese factories were weaned off government funding and forced to turn a profit for the first time. It was during this period that many Provincial Export Corporation personnel left the government owned companies and were permitted to start their own. Initially these new private companies worked through the established Hong Kong brokers to reach the U.S. market, but within a few years they were selling directly to U.S. importers.

In order to survive, Hong Kong brokers invested money into Chinese factories and joint-ventured with Chinese entrepreneurs to start their own exclusive product lines and for their remaining larger customers. With the loss of key personnel, the government provincial export corporations never quite adapted to economic reform, and today most are gone or left selling to domestic Chinese markets.

The 1990s saw the rapid growth of private labels in order for U.S. companies to differentiate their product lines. In the 2000s, China is a basic "free for all," with small mainland export-broker companies forming and folding each month. Additionally, separate factories are attempting to bypass historical channels and selling directly to U.S. importers. Each week American companies receive a half dozen e-mails or fax communications asking for the American companies to place orders directly with some small new and obscure factories that would like to begin exporting to the United States.

(Sources: Microsoft Encarta, Phantom Fireworks, Fireworks! Pyrotechnics on Display, Fireworks Tonight!)

HOW DID THEY DO THAT?

Ever wondered how pyrotechnicians create different shapes? They're made by filling the inside of a cardboard container with black powder and gluing individual starlets to the outside.  When the black powder charge explodes, the starlets explode in the same shape as the cookie-cutter. Almost any shape imaginable can be produced with this technique.

DID YOU KNOW...?

• Fireworks, are like almost everything else, have records for the biggest, longest, and the most. Here are some of the "official" records from the Guiness World Book of Records, and some of the "unofficial" records that have yet to be recognized by Guiness.
• The largest fireworks accident ever occurred at a wedding at a wedding in Paris France when at least 800 people were trampled to death or drowned after a fireworks display went wrong.
• White fireworks were impossible to produce until the mid-1800s, when scientists developed ways to add aluminum, magnesium and titanium to black powder.