At the risk of sounding patriotic (though this is the 4th of July), today’s topic is…FIREWORKS! Most everyone knows fireworks were invented in China (apparently around the 7th Century), but it’s amazing how innovation in the United States and around the world has improved the “consumer experience” dramatically, even in the last 20 years.
As a kid growing up in the ‘80s, the annual 4th of July fireworks show, viewed from the grassy fields of Barranca Mesa Elementary School, was really amazing up in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico (we could even see the shows in Espanola and Santa Fe from over 20 miles away). But the show was often…boring. A few neat things here and there, lots of down time, and lack of a dazzling finale (to be fair, the budget for a show with a county of only 20,000 people was probably not that big).
So skip ahead to the ‘90s, I, along with over a million others, was privileged to see a show by the famous Santore Brothers of New Jersey. Launched from a barge off the New Jersey Shore, the computer controlled show was set to patriotic music transmitted over the radio. Today, pretty much all shows at ballparks, outdoor concerts, and theme parks, offer a wondrous experience thematically choreographed and synchronized with music. Aside from electronically timed firing, new innovations have reduced the amount of smoke (to be used indoors), advanced color mixing, and maybe even allowed for the emergence of the Holy Grail – spelling words in the sky! To learn more, see also The Chemistry of Fireworks.
Happy Independence Day!