Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Fireworks
(889 words)

1. Concept

Fireworks are explosive devices ignited as an event to create effects of light, noise, and movement in connection with festivities. Pyrotechnic devices containing the explosives may be freely moving or fixed. The pyrotechnic effects vary according to the chemical composition of the device.

2. History

Simple pyrotechnic effects were known in ancient China and India. The art of manufacturing gunpowder and rockets probably reached Europ…

Cite this page
Quaeitzsch, Christian, “Fireworks”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_019247>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180126



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