What Are Pyrotechnics And How Are They Used?.
"Man is the only animal that is afraid of the dark and the only that has mastered fire".
Pyrotechnics, the artificial art of fire. Pyrotechnics originated in medieval China where they were commonly used to chase demons and evil spirits away from religious ceremonies. Arriving later in Italy about 500 years ago, where some changes were made to the design and colors. Finally, arriving in America around 1608 by Capt. John Smith, where he "fired a few rockets" to dazzle the natives. Later in 1805 Boston held the first Independence Day celebration. .
Many people also contributed to pyrotechnics. The Ruggieri Brothers brought in the "Golden Age" of fireworks, while their descendants later discovered many of the colors we use today. Thomas G. "Ray" Hitt invented flash powder, which gave firecrackers a bigger snap. And early work in rocketry by Robert Goddard helped put the United States on the moon. .
In fireworks there are two types of shells, Oriental and Italian. Oriental shells are shells that originated in China while Italian originated in Italy. These two types of shells are different in many ways. Oriental shells are a spherical shape and are limited to only one burst, producing perfectly symmetrical displays. They are created by first taking a shell, then cutting it in half and filling it with effects, and then finally gluing the shell back together. Oriental shells were limited in early times only to the saltpeter colors. Italian shells are a cylindrical shape, which allows it to perform many bursts. The shells contain stars, which are made from an effects soup that has been dried and cut. The Italians were the first to begin adding new colors to the shells.
Also today we have three main black powder tools that we use in Pyrotechnics. These three tools include the fountain, the gun, and the salute. Fountains are usually cylindrically shaped tubes that have one open end and one closed end.
