Fireworks were invented in China more than 2,000 years ago — likely by accident, when alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality mixed saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. The result wasn't immortality. It was gunpowder.

By the 7th century, the Chinese were stuffing gunpowder into bamboo tubes to scare off evil spirits at festivals — the first baozhang, or 'exploding bamboo.' By the 9th century, paper tubes had replaced bamboo. Marco Polo brought the formula back to Europe in the 13th century, and within a generation Italian pyrotechnicians had figured out how to add color — turning gunpowder displays into the dazzling art we know today.

The first organized American fireworks display was on July 4th, 1777 — exactly one year after independence. We've been carrying that tradition ever since.