Fireworks History

• Widely acknowledged to have invented fireworks 2,000 year ago, the Chinese developed their use over several centuries. Chinese military strategists used fireworks to scare enemy soldiers, according to the website History of Things. Knowledge of fireworks technology, or pyrotechnics, reached Europe after Marco Polo viewed them as the guest of a Mongol emperor of China. According to History of Things, early 17th century England had massive fireworks displays for public enjoyment. The 18th and 19th centuries saw the incorporation of music with fireworks.
  
  

Adoption in American Colonies

• The early colonizers, many from England, brought their love of fireworks with them to the New World. Even prior to the Revolutionary War and as early as the 1600s, colonists used them to impress or scare Native Americans and to celebrate many occasions. When the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, new countrymen erupted in cheers, according to "The History of Fireworks" on the website for the American Pyrotechnics Association. John Adams even mentioned fireworks, or illuminations, in writing to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776; "The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival...It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade...bonfires and illuminations (fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." His sentiment is recorded many places, including on the website for the Massachusetts Historical Society.
  
  

First Independence Day Celebration

• The next year, 1777, on the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration, Philadelphians celebrated again, lighting firecrackers and otherwise making merry. "The United States was still in the midst of the Revolutionary War and the outcome was still uncertain, but beautiful displays of fireworks instilled a sense of hope and patriotism in the citizens of the young nation," according to Pyro Universe's web page on the History of Fireworks.
  
  

Other Early Celebrations

• George Washington's inauguration featured a fireworks display, according to American Treasures of the Library of Congress, and John Smith may have also set off fireworks in Jamestown in the early 16th century.
  
  

Modern Use

• Fireworks technology and safety developed in the 20th and 21st centuries, allowing more cities and towns throughout the United States to celebrate their nation's birthday with choreographed and precisely timed fireworks displays on the evening of July 4, and some even on July 3. Fireworks can also be seen and heard on other celebratory evenings such as New Year's Eve. Some don't always need a specific celebration to light off and enjoy fireworks. Walt Disney World features a choreographed and set to music display every evening.