{walker whimsy}: F is for Fireworks!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

F is for Fireworks!

(This is a wee bit out of order as I'm pretty sure the alphabet is not A, B, C, F, D, E ... but I couldn't resist honoring my favorite holiday with a BANG! So all you type A personalities breathe in, breathe out. It will be okay. One out of place letter is not going to end the world :)
Fireworks are my absolute favorite part of the 4th of July! I love watching the sky light up with millions of sparks, the booms echoing across this great nation of ours. I'm not really a "patriotic" person, but something about those fireworks makes me proud to live in America, where we celebrate pretty much everything by blowing sh*t up. Boo ya!

Because I'm white and nerdy (Weird Al, you rock), I thought it would be fun to look up the history of fireworks. As most everyone knows, these colorful fireballs most likely hail from China (like pretty much everything else in the universe). They were used in ancient Chinese culture to scare away evil spirits at special events. Sometime in the 1200s, fireworks made their way to Europe and became very popular. They were used for all kinds of celebrations, including the wedding of Henry VII.

Knowledge of fireworks was brought to our shores by these Englishmen. They were used in 1777 to celebrate our independence and the tradition continues today. It is a wonderful part of the Fourth of July!