Guinness World Records 2018

(Antfer) #1

Fireworks


SCI-TECH & ENGINEERING


LARGEST
SPARKLER
CANDLE
On New Year’s Eve
2015, Yuriy Yaniv
from Kiev, Ukraine,
set alight an unusual
composite firework
of his own creation.
It comprised 10,000
sparklers bound
tightly together in
a ceramic pot with
cardboard, dirt and
kitchen tin foil. On
ignition, the 50-kg
(110-lb) candle
created a gigantic
tower of sparks
some 2 m (6 ft 6 in)
in diameter.

Firework colours result from the burning of metal salts – e.g.,
copper chloride produces blue; calcium chloride creates orange.

First documented firecracker
The origin of gunpowder dates back some
2,000 years to China, where a cook reportedly
mixed the required chemicals in a fire by chance.
However, the first known firework, the Chinese
firecracker, is credited to a monk named Li Tian.
He lived in the 9th century during the Tang
dynasty (618–907 ce), near the city of Liuyang in
Hunan Province, China. Li Tian discovered that
he could create a noisy explosion by packing
gunpowder into a hollow bamboo stem. In the
tradition of using loud noises at auspicious times
to ward off evil spirits, he bound together several
crackers to create the now-traditional New
Year firecrackers. Chinese people celebrate this
invention every 18 Apr with sacrifices to Li Tian.

First use of rockets
Propelled by gunpowder, “flying fireworks”
(containing charcoal, saltpetre and sulphur) were
described by Zeng Gongliang of China in 1042.
The first use of true rockets reportedly dates

from 1232, when the Chinese and Mongols were
at war. In the battle of Kai-Keng, the Chinese
repelled the Mongol invaders with a barrage of
“arrows of flying fire”.

Tallest building from which
fireworks have been launched
On New Year’s Eve, the tallest building – the
828-m-tall (2,716-ft 6-in) Burj Khalifa in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates (see right) – hosts a display
in which fireworks shoot from its sides and
top. In less than 10 min, more than 1.6 tonnes
(3,527 lb) of fireworks are released.

Shortest unintentional firework display
The fireworks display held on 21 Aug 2009 off the
Dorset coast, UK, was set up as a world record
attempt but ended quickly and unexpectedly.
It was planned as a carefully choreographed
bonanza, with 110,000 fireworks mounted on a
barge between two piers in the English Channel.
Unfortunately, the initial rocket launches set

fire to the entire barge full of fireworks, which
exploded and burned brightly for just 6 sec –
although it did result in a world record...

Most fireworks launched
from a pyrotechnics suit
On 13 Jun 2014, a barrage of 642 fireworks was
fired from a pyrotechnics suit worn by Laurent
Nat (FRA) in Grenoble, France.

LARGEST...


Aerial firework shell
The “shell” of an airborne firework includes its
container, stars (pellets containing metal salts

LARGEST INDOOR FIREWORKS DISPLAY
The Singapore National Day Parade is celebrated
on 9 Aug. In 2016, both the preview and main
celebration shows in the National Stadium
employed 98 pyrotechnic boxes, each housing
14 fireworks on average. Each box was connected
to ignition wires at 36 points by the stage and
26 along the sides of four ramps leading to the
main stage. In all, 1,372 fireworks were mounted.

TALLEST
PYROTECHNICS
STRUCTURE
On 7 Dec 2014,
the Municipality
of Jilotepec in the
Estado de México,
Mexico, erected a
66.5-m-tall (218-ft
3-in) pyrotechnic
frame. Dwarfing both
Nelson’s Column
in London, UK, and
the Arc de Triomphe
in Paris, France, it
featured rotating
images, a flying
coronet, fireworks set
to music and images
of key figures from
Jilotepec’s history.

LARGEST FIREWORK DISPLAY
On 1 Jan 2016, Iglesia ni Cristo (PHL) staged a
display of 810,904 fireworks at the “Countdown
2016” New Year celebrations. The event was held
at the Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria in
Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines. The display began
at the stroke of midnight 2016 and lasted for
1 hr 1 min 32.35 sec in pouring rain.

Bees
Many different points of light that
spread to follow diverse paths

Fish
A burst of stars that swiftly
become independent lights

Brocade
A star burst within which
clusters of other stars weave

Chrysanthemum
Stars with tails in a larger
globe-shaped explosion

Peony
A spherical burst giving rise to
an explosion of changing colours

LARGEST
FIREWORK ROCKET
On 27 Sep 2014,
a 97.01-kg (213-lb
14‑oz) firework rocket
was launched at the
Western Pyrotechnic
Association
convention in
Hawthorne, Nevada,
USA. It was built by
Dave Ferguson and
the BFR Boys (all
USA). The diameter
of the rocket’s burst
size was put at more
than 360 m (1,181 ft).

Q: Which country makes


90% of all fireworks?
A: China
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