Fireworks

         Pyrotechnic mixtures were used in war when the Greeks and Romans had warfare. Greek fire, which is thought to be invented around the seventh century B.C., was used a lot by the Greeks and Romans in both land and water warfare.
         The fireworks were used for the same purpose in the middle ages. Fireworks were invented in the Tang Dynasty. They were originally used for shows, but later were used to scare off enemies. The fireworks were mainly made of bamboo cases and filled with gunpowder with the fuse hanging out the bottom of the stick. When the gunpowder was made, it was ground to a very fine consistency, like flower; but when the cannon was invented, the Chinese found that the fine gunpowder burned too quickly. Finely ground gunpowder launched the cannonball a shorter distance than thick gunpowder.
         The Chinese also had another problem. The smoke from the gunpowder not only blinded their vision of the enemy, but also gave their position away. They had no control over that, but in the near future, smokeless gunpowder took the regular gunpowder's place.

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Researched by Tony W.