Today I'm gonna answer Lindsay's big question: What's the origin of the fireworks?

Perfect question to ask for July video. It's almost forth of July here in the U.S. Let's get started!

We know the fireworks have been around since at least the Tang Dynasty in China which was during the 7th century CE

It's believed that they were invented not for their appearance but for the noise they make.

Come boom!

Pay attention? Should be pay attention now.

The ancient Chinese probably use them to scare off enemies and spirits

They might have been repurposed military weapons made from dried bamboo and an early version of gunpowder

Some sources claim fireworks came first then people started using gunpowder and weapons.

The earliest fireworks probably look more like sparklers in the modern ones we know.

There's an account of these early fireworks in a book called "Rustic Tales in Eastern Ch'i"

My nickname in high school

which is written by Ch'in in 1264

I had a lot of nicknames in high school

They referred to as ground rats or earth rats and that's because they didn't actually leave the ground

People would like the bamboo and gunpowder contraption and then it would kind of spin and move around on the ground

And people "ooh" and "ah",something maybe that was speculation that speculate I don't know I don't know that for sure

Around the 12th century people started to use fireworks for more celebratory purposes

For instance when an emperor came into town, citizens would set them off

Again are you paying attention?

This is all tricks to get you to keep paying attention

Took a few more centuries for Europeans to jump on the firework bandwagon

We don't know for sure how they got there

but both Marco Polo and the Crusaders have gotten credit for bringing gunpowder back from China

so they might have had something to do with

Between 13th and 16th centuries fireworks became more and more popular in Europe

eventually the army and other groups started setting them off on special occasions

In Italy they became associated with religious holidays

You may be wondering how fireworks became a custom for the fourth of july in the US

John Adams actually gets credit for that

In 1776 he wrote a letter to Abigail Adams

which he claimed that the Declaration of Independence should be celebrated with

"Pomp and parade with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires

and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more

That's why fireworks are constantly exploding in the U.S. Forever.

Not really. But the next year celebrators did just that according to newspapers from 1777

Fireworks were set off in Philadelphia and Boston and the tradition continues.

Thanks for watching Mental Floss video which is made with the help of all these explosive people

If you have a big question of your only like answered leave it below in the comment

See you next time

Come boom!