A firework’s
many colors
are created by
burning different
kinds of
metals.
6
Some towns
use “quiet
fireworks”
to avoid scaringlocal wildlife.
3
DANA.S / SHUTTERSTOCK JUNE / JULY 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS (^7)
flashy facts
about fireworks
7
4
During
the 16th century,
Queen Elizabeth I gave
the position of
“Fire Master
of England”
to the country’s best
fireworks maker.
(^1) Fireworks can
burst
into shapes such as
stars, smiley faces, and
even an image of
the planet
Saturn.
2
Historians think
firecrackers were
accidentally
invented some 2 ,000 years
ago in China, when people
threw bamboo
stalks into a fire—and
they exploded.
5
BY PAIGE TOWLER
The
Japanese word
for fireworks,
hanabi,
means “fire
flowers.”
7
One year
after declaring
independence — on
July 4, 1777 —
the United States started
using fireworks to
celebrate
the historic event.