[MR] history of fireworks (Fwd: Aoife-Links Digest, Vol 10, Issue 1)

Sun Jul 3 10:32:29 PDT 2005

An appropriate listing ...
Ingvild

Today's  Topics:

1. Fire in the Sky: History of Fireworks  (Aoife)

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Message:  1
Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2005 23:12:32 -0400
From: "Aoife"  <aoife at scatoday.net>
Subject: [Aoife-Links] Fire in the Sky: History  of Fireworks
To: <aoife-links at scatoday.net>
Message-ID:  <000601c57f7d$0e26f1c0$cf75bacc at pcbz6mpmt4r04r>
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reply-type=original

Greetings my Faithful Readers!

As I write, I  am surrounded by the sounds of exploding gunpowder. No, I'm 
not under  siege. I just happen to live in a rural but high tourist area--the 
Pocono  Mountains--and our property is sandwiched between 2 campgrounds. It 
being  the weekend of the 4th of July, you can guess the source of my  
sleeplessness. And thus a links list is born!

Doing web searches on  fireworks has proved interesting. I unearthed no less 
than 10 websites  with precisely the same information--in the same words, and 
all with  precisely the same punctuation. Shame! One of them appears below, 
but I  can't claim the page author is the original author.  However, in  
addition to the repeated canned history, there is some exciting and  
informative stuff out there as well. I hope you find it not only topical,  
but also interesting.

I'd like to note that fireworks are  dangerous, are not for kids to handle 
EVER, and can damage your skin and  your hearing. Exercise care! Lecture over 
and Mom mode off--and please  enjoy these links about fireworks.

Cheers!

Aoife

Dame  Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon
m/k/a Lisbeth Herr-Gelatt
Riverouge
Endless  Hills
Aethelmearc

HSBC Celebration of  Light
http://www.celebration-of-light.com/fireworks/history.html
(Site  Excerpt) 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.

Nova:  Fireworks!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fireworks/
(Site Excerpt)  Welcome to the companion Web site to "Fireworks!," originally 
broadcast on  January 29, 2002. This explosive NOVA presents the colorful 
history of  pyrotechnics and reveals how hi-tech firing systems are 
transforming  public displays into a dazzling, split-second science.

History of early  fireworks and fire  arrows
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blrockethistory.htm
(Site  Excerpt) One of the first devices to successfully employ the 
principles  essential to rocket flight was a wooden bird. The writings of 
Aulus  Gellius, a Roman, tell a story of a Greek named Archytas who lived in 
the  city of Tarentum, now a part of southern Italy. Somewhere around the 
year  400 B.C., Archytas mystified and amused the citizens of Tarentum by 
flying  a pigeon made of wood. Escaping steam propelled the bird suspended on 

wires. The pigeon used the action-reaction principle, which was not stated  
as a scientific law until the 17th century.

American Pyrotechnic  Association Directory of State Fireworks  Laws
http://www.americanpyro.com/State%20Laws%20(main)/statelaws.html

Fireworks  University: History of  Fireworks
http://www.fireworks.com/safety/fireworks-history.asp
(Site  Excerpt) 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.

Phillip C. Reed: Pennsic 32 Fireworks (Elizabethan  Fireworks!)
http://www.dnaco.net/~preed/fireworks/1/1.html

Early  Rockets and Gunpowder - How Fireworks  Work
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blrocketfirework.htm
(Site  Excerpt) A fuse (cotton twine coated with gunpowder) is lit by a match 
or  by a "punk" (a wooden stick with a coal-like red-glowing tip). This fuse  
burns rapidly into the core of the rocket where it ignites the gunpowder  
walls of the interior core. One might think that the fuse would burn out  
once inside of the core, due to the lack of surrounding air but the  
chemistry of gunpowder solves this point.

C et En: Science and  Technology: What's that stuff:  Fireworks
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/7927sci3.html
(Site  Excerpt) Gunpowder made its way to Europe, probably during the early  
1200s. During the Middle Ages, gunpowder-based creations--the precursor to  
modern fireworks--were limited to booms and a few sparkles, aided by a few  
iron filings or some copper or zinc. The repertoire of colors was that  found 
in most campfires: oranges, yellows, and the occasional  white-hot.

Fireworks UK:Festivals of  Light
http://www.fireworks.co.uk/heritage/history.html
(Site Excerpt)In  the United Kingdom November 5th is associated with Guy 
Fawkes, and the  conspiracy to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. In 
fact it is  really a new format for a much more ancient tradition: one with 
its roots  in the old pagan year which started on November 1, a date that 
also marked  the first day of winter. Bonfires were lit, torches carried in 
procession  and sacrifices made to drive away evil influences and uphold the 
fertility  of the world.

The History of  Fireworks
http://www.chemsoc.org/exemplarchem/entries/2004/icl_Gondhia/history.html
(Site  Excerpt) Before long, the knowledge of fireworks began to spread to 
the  west. It is believed that Marco Polo on one of his many trips to China  
transported this invention to the Middle East where European Crusaders  
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. He wrote "..... if you light it you will get thunder and  
lightening if you know the trick......." and realised that it was the Salt  
Peter (KNO3) that was the driving force behind the  explosion.

Stefan's Florilegium
www.florilegium.org
You may find  interesting: blackpowder-msg