Time exposure of the fireworks display in honor of our National Day.
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Around 800 A.D., a Chinese alchemist mixed potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal, hoping to find the secret of eternal life. Instead, the mixture caught on fire, and gunpowder was born! Soon after, the powder was poured into hollowed out bamboo sticks forming the first man made fireworks. The vibrant, aerial displays that we enjoy today were derived in the 1830s, when the Italians combined metals with explosives.