As its military use evolved in China, so did its show and gimmick value — right from the white, magical appearing smoke left in the wake of its open combustion. One historical conjecture is that the gunpowder technology, along with the first pyrotechnical mixtures for entertainment, was brought to India and Europe from China by the Arabs.
One of the earliest notes of pyrotechnical shows in India is made by Abdur Razzaq, the ambassador of the Timurid Sultan Shahrukh to the court of the Vijayanagar king Devaraya II in Fireworks and pyrotechnic shows existed as a form of royal entertainment in many medieval Indian kingdoms during festivals, events and special occasions like weddings.
Manufacturing formulas for fireworks describing pyrotechnic mixtures are found within Kautukachintamani, a Sanskrit volume by Gajapati Prataparudradeva , a reputed royal author from Orissa. Gode mused on the possibility that Chinese pyrotechnic formulas were brought to India around AD and then modified with the use of Indian substitutes for the Chinese ones not available in India.
While rulers were primarily the organising sponsors of these shows, it is clear that other citizens also had access to fireworks. Elaborate description of fireworks in mythological works from this period also bring in imaginations of pyrotechnic exuberance, familiar to the writers of this period, around these epic events. Fireworks actually were invented in China, thousands of years ago.
The first noted incarnation occurred a few hundred years B. Alarming perhaps, but no worry: the frightening noise scared off evil, so it was good. Fast-forward a thousand years or so when, legend has it, a Chinese chemist had the happy accident of mixing saltpeter potassium nitrate with sulfur and charcoal, inadvertently creating gunpowder. Or maybe it was a legendary Chinese cook who accidentally spilled saltpeter into the cooking fire and was rewarded for his or her sloppiness with a colorful flame.
Either way, a legendary person invented gunpowder in China about two millennia ago. So what exactly happened? The charcoal caught the flame that created the heat that started the chemical reactions. The saltpeter created the force that blasted out from the bamboo, making the crackling and popping sounds. However, Europeans likely were introduced to gunpowder weaponry during the Crusades a few years earlier, according to the Smithsonian.
Then, around the 13th century, gunpowder and the recipes to create it made their way to Europe and Arabia via other diplomats, explorers and Franciscan missionaries, according to the Smithsonian.
From there, the West developed the technology into more-powerful weapons that we know today as cannons and muskets.
People in the West still retained the original idea of fireworks, though, and used them during celebrations. Jesters would also entertain crowds with fireworks in medieval England.
In England, rulers used fireworks displays to entertain their followers. The first royal fireworks display is thought to have taken place on Henry VII's wedding day in In , James II's coronation presentation was so amazing that it earned the fire master a knighthood. Not to be outdone, Czar Peter the Great of Russia put on a 5-hour fireworks show to mark the birth of his son.
During the Renaissance, pyrotechnic schools were popping up across Europe, according to History. The schools taught eager students how to create elaborate explosions. In Italy, fireworks were particularly popular, and in the s, people in that country incorporated trace amounts of metals and other ingredients to enhance the brightness and to make creative shapes.
They also finally developed more colors for fireworks. References Cohen, J. Fireworks' Vibrant History. The History of Fireworks and the 4th of July. The Explosive History of Fireworks. About the Author Alexis Stempien. Categories Science. Behind the Scenes. What is Photosynthesis. Are All Snowflakes Really Different?
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