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The first firecrackers were make in 200 BC, during the Han dynasty. They were chunks of green bamboo, when they were thrown into a fire they would sizzle, and unexpectedly explode.
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The first gunpowder is said to be made between 600-900 AD, during the Sui and Tang dynastys in China. In the 10th century,it was used for the military, They would make "Fire Arrows", that would be a bamboo full of gunpowder attached to an arrow, that would be set on fire to set fire to the enemy.
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Marco Polo brought fireworks to Italy in 1292 A.D. Ever since then, italians have been fascinated by them, and started experimenting with them.
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During the Renaissance, italians started to make fireworks into an art form. Most of the people that would be able to buy them were royalty and very rich people.
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The most popular type of firework in 1500-1700, was called "Dragon Fireworks". They would make a huge divice with made with wood, and paper-mache scales. They would have rockets and firecrackers, that would "Breathe" out of the dragon's mouth.
Sometimes they would get two dragons and have them fight, by making them face eachother, and setting fire to eachother. -
In England, in the 1730s, they began to make public fireworks shows, instead of them just being for only royalty and rich people. They would be huge, public displays for eveyone to see, people would come from all over England and Europe just to see these great displays.
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Fireworks were first brought over to the U.S. around the 1600s, and were used to scare off Native Americans, and for special occasions. The first 4th of July was in 1777, one year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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For about 1000 years, only that fireworks could make were orange and white. But in Italy in the 1830s, pyrotechnicians started adding both a metallic salt and a cholrinated powder that made it able to the fireworks to be in reds, greens, blues, and yellows.