Editing Fireworks (section)

==History==
{{Further|History of gunpowder|Four Great Inventions}}
[[File:Ming Dynasty Jin Ping Mei fireworks.jpg|thumb|left|An illustration of a fireworks display from the 1628–1643 edition of the [[Ming Dynasty]] novel ''[[Jin Ping Mei]]''<ref name="Science and Civilisation in China">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|year=1986|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic|isbn=0-521-30358-3|page=140}}</ref>]]
[[File:RoyalFireworks.jpg|thumb|left|An etching of the ''Royal Fireworks'' display on the [[River Thames|Thames]], London, England, in 1749]]
[[File:18th century English illustration of Chinese fireworks.jpg|thumb|right|An 18th-century illustration of Chinese fireworks from an English abstract of an account of China by French Jesuit [[Pierre Nicolas d'Incarville]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|year=1986|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic|isbn=0-521-30358-3|page=142}}</ref>]]
[[File:A firework display for Muḥammad Sháh, portrayed seated and leaning against a bolster..jpg|thumb|right|A firework display for Muḥammad Sháh, portrayed seated and leaning against a bolster]]
[[File:Preparing Firework.jpg|thumb|Preparing fireworks at [[Sayn Castle]], Germany]]
[[File:Groundfireworks-burning.jpg|thumb|Two ignited [[Catherine wheel (firework)|Catherine wheels]] spinning during a traditional Maltese feast]]
[[File:Firework design.jpg|thumb|A ground firework showing various technical parts mentioned in the article, such as the chain and a set of gears]]
[[File:Grand finale.jpg|thumb|The grand finale showing also the jets that produce power. A picture taken from the back so the stars and flowers are not so clearly visible]]

The earliest fireworks came from China during the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279).<ref>Gernet, Jacques (1962). ''Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276''. Translated by H.M. Wright. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Page 186. {{ISBN|0-8047-0720-0}}.</ref> Fireworks were used to accompany many festivities.<ref name="temple-r">Temple, Robert K.G. (2007). ''The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention'' (3rd edition). London: André Deutsch, pp. 256–257. {{ISBN|978-0-233-00202-6}}</ref> In China, pyrotechnicians were respected for their knowledge of complex techniques in creating fireworks and mounting firework displays.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hutchins|first=Paul|title=The secret doorway: Beyond imagination|year=2009|publisher=Imagination Publishing|isbn=978-0-9817123-3-8|page=27}}</ref>

During the [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 220 AD), people threw bamboo stems into a fire to produce an explosion with a loud sound.<ref name=frcrk/> In later times, gunpowder packed into small containers was used to mimic the sounds of burning bamboo.<ref name=frcrk/> Exploding bamboo stems and gunpowder [[firecrackers]] were interchangeably known as ''baozhu'' (爆竹) or ''baogan'' (爆竿).<ref name=frcrk/> During the Song dynasty, people manufactured the first firecrackers comprising tubes made from rolled sheets of paper containing gunpowder and a fuse.<ref name=yhw-cf>{{cite journal |last1=Yuan |first1=Haiwang |title=Chinese Fireworks |journal=DLPS Faculty Publications. |date=2008 |url=http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlps_fac_pub/19}}</ref> They also strung these firecrackers together into large clusters, known as ''bian'' (lit. "whip") or ''bianpao'' (lit. "whip cannon"), so the firecrackers could be set off one by one in close sequence.<ref name=yhw-cf/> By the 12th and possibly the 11th century, the term ''baozhang'' (爆仗) was used to specifically refer to gunpowder firecrackers.<ref name=frcrk>{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|year=1986|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic|isbn=0-521-30358-3|pages=128–31}}</ref> The first usage of the term was in the ''[[Dongjing Meng Hua Lu|Dreams of the Glories of the Eastern Capital]]'' (東京夢華錄; about 1148) by Meng Yuanlao.<ref name=frcrk/>

During the Song dynasty, common folk could purchase fireworks such as firecrackers from market vendors.<ref name="gernet1962">Gernet, Jacques (1962). ''Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276''. Translated by H.M. Wright. Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 186. {{ISBN|0-8047-0720-0}}.</ref> Grand displays of fireworks were also known to be held. In 1110, according to the ''Dreams of the Glories of the Eastern Capital'', a large fireworks display mounted by the military was held to entertain [[Emperor Huizong of Song]] (r. 1100–1125).<ref name="kelly2004">Kelly, Jack (2004). ''Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World''. New York: Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, page 2.</ref> The ''Qidong Yeyu'' (齊東野語; 1264) states that a rocket-propelled firework called a ''dilaoshu'' (地老鼠; lit. "earth rat") went off near the [[Empress Dowager]] Gong Sheng and startled her during a feast held in her honor by her son [[Emperor Lizong of Song]] (r. 1224–1264).<ref name=needh135>{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|year=1986|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic|isbn=0-521-30358-3|page=135}}</ref> This type of firework was one of the earliest examples of rocket propulsion.<ref name=needh135/> Around 1280, a Syrian named Hasan al-Rammah wrote of rockets, fireworks, and other incendiaries, using terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources,<ref name="kellyj">Kelly, Jack (2004). ''Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World''. Basic Books, page 22. {{ISBN|0-465-03718-6}}.</ref> such as his references to fireworks as "Chinese flowers".

Colored fireworks were developed from earlier (possibly [[Han dynasty]] or soon thereafter) Chinese application of chemical substances to create colored smoke and fire.<ref name=needh-v7-color/> Such application appears in the ''[[Huolongjing]]'' (14th century) and ''[[Wubeizhi]]'' (preface of 1621, printed 1628), which describes recipes, several of which used low-nitrate gunpowder, to create military signal smokes with various colors.<ref name=needh-v7-color/> In the ''Wubei Huolongjing'' (武備火龍經; [[Ming dynasty|Ming]], completed after 1628), two formulas appears for firework-like signals, the ''sanzhangju'' (三丈菊) and ''baizhanglian'' (百丈蓮), that produces silver sparkles in the smoke.<ref name=needh-v7-color/> In the ''Huoxilüe'' (火戲略; 1753) by Zhao Xuemin (趙學敏), there are several recipes with low-nitrate gunpowder and other chemical substances to tint flames and smoke.<ref name=needh-v7-color>{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|year=1986|publisher=Cambridge University Press|title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic|isbn=0-521-30358-3|pages=144–46}}</ref> These included, for instance, arsenical sulphide for yellow, copper acetate (verdigris) for green, lead carbonate for lilac-white, and mercurous chloride (calomel) for white.<ref name=needh-v7-color/> The Chinese pyrotechnics were described by the French author [[Antoine Caillot]] (1818): "It is certain that the variety of colours which the Chinese have the secret of giving to flame is the greatest mystery of their fireworks."<ref name=needh-v7-color/> Similarly, the English geographer [[Sir John Barrow]] (ca. 1797) wrote "The diversity of colours indeed with which the Chinese have the secret of cloathing fire seems to be the chief merit of their pyrotechny."<ref name=needh-v7-color/>

Fireworks were produced in Europe by the 14th century, becoming popular by the 17th century.<ref name=Ullmann>{{Ullmann|author1=T. T. Griffiths|author2=U. Krone|author3=R. Lancaster|title=Pyrotechnics|year=2017|doi=10.1002/14356007.a22_437.pub2}}</ref><ref name="ssec">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160106154801/https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/evolution-fireworks "The Evolution of Fireworks"], Smithsonian Science Education Center. ssec.si.edu.</ref><ref name="werret-181"/> Lev Izmailov, ambassador of [[Peter the Great]], once reported from China: "They make such fireworks that no one in Europe has ever seen."<ref name="werret-181">{{cite book|last=Werrett|first=Simon|title=Fireworks: Pyrotechnic arts and sciences in European history|year=2010|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-89377-8|page=181}}</ref> In 1758, the Jesuit missionary [[Pierre Nicolas d'Incarville|Pierre Nicolas le Chéron d'Incarville]], living in [[Beijing]], wrote about the methods and composition of Chinese fireworks to the [[Paris Academy of Sciences]], which published the account five years later.<ref name="werret-183">{{cite book|last=Werrett|first=Simon|title=Fireworks: Pyrotechnic arts and sciences in European history|year=2010|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-89377-8|page=183}}</ref> [[Amédée-François Frézier]] published his revised work ''Traité des feux d'artice pour le spectacle'' (Treatise on Fireworks) in 1747 (originally 1706),<ref name=werret-144>{{cite book|last=Werrett|first=Simon|title=Fireworks: Pyrotechnic arts and sciences in European history|year=2010|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-89377-8|pages=144–45}}</ref> covering the recreational and ceremonial uses of fireworks, rather than their military uses. ''[[Music for the Royal Fireworks]]'' was composed by [[George Frideric Handel]] in 1749 to celebrate the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]], which had been declared the previous year.

"Prior to the nineteenth century and the advent of modern chemistry they [fireworks] must have been relatively dull and unexciting."<ref name=Ullmann/> Bertholet in 1786 discovered that oxidations with potassium chlorate resulted in a violet emission. Subsequent developments revealed that oxidations with the chlorates of barium, strontium, copper, and sodium result in intense emission of bright colors. The isolation of metallic magnesium and aluminium marked another breakthrough as these metals burn with an intense silvery light.<ref name=Ullmann/>