Fireworks Started With A Bang In The Kitchen

There's an old saying that some of the best recipes come from accidents in the kitchen. According to legend, many believe fireworks came about when a Chinese cook in the 10th century mixed together what was then three ordinary kitchen ingredients and made gunpowder.

Some say Italian explorer Marco Polo brought fireworks from China to Europe. Others say that a German magician invented them in the 1300s. European leaders in the 1500s used fireworks displays to celebrate a military victory or the birth of a child.

Back then fireworks were very dangerous and firemasters, people who lit them, often died on the job.

Many of the fireworks used today were popular in the 1500s, although they've improved. "They have gotten better," says Jerry Farley, executive director of Washington Independence Day Association. "The colors are better.

"All fireworks are much safer nowadays, but display fireworks are still very dangerous," he says.

Americans started using fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July in the 19th century.

The scientific name for fireworks is pyrotechnics, from Greek words meaning "art of fire."

To make colorful fireworks, different chemical salts are used. Calcium salts make red; copper makes green or blue and aluminum makes white. Chlorine compounds are used to make colors brighter and more vivid.

Until the late 1980s fireworks displays were done by hand. Pyrotechnicians, people who go to school to learn how to properly use display fireworks, would have to light the fuses of each shell. As many as 1,000 shells are sometimes used in big displays.

Today shells are set to music and launched electronically, but workers can light a fuse in case the electrical charge doesn't work. What did you learn?

1. What is the scientific name for fireworks? 2. Who brought fireworks from China to Europe?

Did you hear the one: Q. Why did the kangaroo go to the doctor? A. It was feeling a little jumpy.

I didn't know that: Piggy banks became popular by mistake. In the fifteenth century metal was expensive so many pots and dishes were made out a of clay called pygg. When saving money, people would put coins in a pygg jar and call it a pyggy bank. Over time, people forgot that pygg referred to clay. In the nineteenth century when English potters were asked to make "pyggy banks", they made them in the shape of a pig. People loved them and they became a lasting item.

Your Words: We asked My Words readers to draw a picture of what they thought an alien from another planet would look like. Here is a drawing from Alexandra Platis, 10, of Mill Creek:

Write to Wordy: Do you like to watch fireworks? Tell Wordy how you feel about fireworks using 100 words or fewer. Send essays to My Words, c/o The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1138, Seattle, WA 98111. Please include your name, age and phone number. The deadline is July 8.

Wordy's Tips for a Safe Fourth of July 1. All fireworks are dangerous. 2. Read instructions carefully. 3. Let an adult light them and stay away. 4. Check with local police and make sure it is legal to shoot fireworks in your area. 5. When attending a fireworks display, keep your distance and obey all "keep out" signs.

To help you learn: When talking about fireworks, a shell is a container packed with powerful chemicals and gunpowder that is placed in a small cannon called a mortar and rocketed into the sky where it bursts into a beautiful shower of colored sparks.