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Articles
- Home
- Who Discovered the Constellation Aries
- Who Discovered Gemini
- Who Discovered Constellation Sagittarius
- Who Discovered the Constellations
- Who Discovered Constellation Leo
- Who Discovered the Quadratic Formula
- Who Discovered Venus
- Who Discovered Saturn
- Who Discovered Potassium
- Who Discovered Pi
- Who Discovered the Mitochondria
- Who Discovered Mercury
- Who Discovered Planet Mars
- Who Discovered Magnets
- Who Discovered DNA
- Who Discovered Planet Earth
- Who Discovered Heart Disease
- Who Discovered Hydrogen
- Who Discovered Influenza
- Who Discovered Leukemia
- Who Discovered Iron
- Who Discovered Jupiter
- Who Discovered Magnesium
- Who Discovered Constellation Pegasus
- Who Discovered Copper
- Who Discovered Constellation Taurus
- Who Discovered Big Dipper
- Who Discovered Calcium
- Who Discovered Chocolate
- Who Discovered America
- Who Discovered Albinism
- Who Invented the Snickers Candy Bar
- Who Invented the Television
- Who Invented the CD Player
- Who Invented the American Flag
- Who Invented Football
- Who Invented Chocolate
- Who Invented Basketball
- Who invented the Telephone
- Who invented Video Games
- Who invented Opera
- Who invented Radio
- Who invented Electricity
- Who invented Soccer
- Who invented the Airplane
- Who invented the Car
- Who invented the Cell Phone
- Who invented the Paper Clip
- Who invented the Segway
- Who invented the Space Shuttle
Who Discovered the Quadratic Formula
This is the quadratic formula: x1,2=(-b/2a) ± (1/2a)(b2-4ac)1/2
It is said the quadratic formula has been used and known by man for thousands of years. The equation has changed a number of times, too.
Some 2000 years ago, the Chinese, Babylonians, and Egyptians already knew the area of a square levels with the length of its sides. Using bales of hay, they figured they could stack nine bales more if the roof space were three times wider. The Chinese, Babylonians, and Egyptians could compute the area of other complex shapes.
But they did not know how to work out the sides of those shapes. And so they were faced with a bigger problem: They had to be able to calculate the length of the sides starting from a certain point. The shape should be leveled with a total area using the lengths of the sides.
How the Egyptians used the quadratic formula
1, 500 years ago, the Egyptians did not use numbers like we do today. They expressed mathematical problems using words. But Egyptian scribes skirted the quadratic equation issue by solving the area of all sides and made a reference chart. They made up something like a multiplication table. That made computation fast and quick. Egyptian engineers did have to compute all shapes and sides all the time. All they had to do was look at the chart.
Up this day these tables till exist. They may not be mathematically correct, but they certainly show how the quadratic formula began. .
How the Babylonians used the quadratic formula
The Babylonians had a different way of solving the problem. Unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians used numbers instead of words. The Babylonians numbers were pretty much the same as the numbers we use today, except that theirs were based on a hexagesimal model (or base 60). With this system multiplication and addition were easier to do. So around 1000 BC Babylonian engineers could check whether the values of their tables were right or wrong. The Babylonians came up with a technique called “completing the square” to solve common problems with areas by 400 BC.
Euclid and Pythagoras
The first purely mathematical try to come up with a quadratic formula was done by Pythagoras in 500 BC. Euclid did the same thing in Alexandria, Egypt. Euclid used a purely geometric method. And he came up with a general formula to solve the equation. For his part Pythagoras observed that the ratios between the area of a square and the length of the sides did not add up. To him there was no other proportion except the rational. Euclid thought otherwise: If there are rational numbers, there must be irrational numbers. He then wrote a book called Elements in which he lay down the mathematics of solving quadratic equation.
But Euclid’s equation did not use the same formula that we know today. His formula could not compute the square root of any number by longhand.
How Hindu mathematicians added 0 to the equation
The Hindus are credited to have created the concept of 0, for nothingness. Western mathematicians could bring themselves to believe in the value of nothing. The Hindus, on the other hand, believed in “shunya” , meaning the void, or a state of equilibrium.
By 700 AD, a Hindu mathematician named Brahmagupta was using irrational numbers. He came up with two roots in the answer. But around 1100 AD, another Hindu math wizard, Baskhara, discovered that any positive number has two square roots.
How the quadratic equation spread to Europe
Mohammad bin Al-Khwarismi, a respected Muslim mathematician in Baghdad was able to solve the quadratic equation in 820 AD. He did not use numbers nor negative solutions. Word got around about what he did. So a Jewish mathematician named Abraham bar Hiyya brought this piece of knowledge to Barcelona, Spain in 1100.
From then on mathematicians all over Europe picked up and used the equation.
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Who Discovered Constellation Pegasus
Pegasus is the ever popular white-winged horse that has appeared in most fantasy movies. You can say the same about the constellation. Pegasus is a breath-taking sight in the night sky at the end of summer. The horse-shaped star can be seen all through autumn if you live in Northern Europe. Residents below the Equator can see Pegasus from Winter to Spring. But do not expect to see a horse right away. Pegasus is shy, but not exactly aloof. That is because he does not show himself upright. You can see him upside down. What you may see quite clearly after some time is Pegasus’s head, neck, and hind hooves. They all stick out from what is popularly known as the “Square of Pegasus.”
The Square of Pegasus
The Square of Pegasus appears with four brilliant points and a few stars inside. The three brightest stars of Pegasus are alpha Pegasi or Markab (seen in the southwest), gamma Pegasi or Algenib (located in the southeastern corner), and beta Pegasi or Scheat (seen in the northwest). Alpha Pegasi is the brightest star. Beta Pegasis, meanwhile, makes strong solar winds so it appears wrapped by a sheath of gases.
What happened to Pegasus’s other half is subject to debate. What experts agree on is that what we see on clear nights is the horse’s front half. Some astrology circles believe Pegasus’s lower half moonlights as Aries’s other.
Pegasus’s fourth bend remains debatable. The issue started in 1930 when the IAU decided to set limits to constellations to avoid overlapping of borders. The IAU experts set aside the north-eastern star of Pegasus’s square to Andromeda. Pegasus’s north-eastern star is called Schirra or Alpheratz. Before the 1930s, Alpheratz belonged to delta Pegasi.
Pegasus’s beta Pegasis also overlapped and formed a triangle with other star clusters nearby. That added to the confusion.
Earliest sightings of constellation Pegasus
Around 150 AD the Greek astronomer Ptolemy compiled a list of 45 constellations in a book called The Almagest. He was the first astronomer to name the star clusters Pegasus in reference to the winged horse of Greek mythology. But Ptolemy borrowed liberally from the Babylonians, who had observed the stars as early as 2000 BC. Ancient Babylon was located in present day Iraq. The Babylonians were said to be the first to locate and classify the stars into different Zodiac signs.
Ptolemy’s The Almagest became an authority for hundreds of years until the 16th Century. It is said two unnamed Dutch astronomers added 12 new constellations to Ptolemy’s 45. This time the Dutch included the southern hemisphere. By the 17th Century, 7 more constellations were added by French astronomers. Before the close of the 18th Century, the French put in 14 more. The final “line up” did not become official until 1922 when the International Astronomical Union said so. The IAU can promote or demote a star cluster’s or planet’s status. The IAU declared that the constellations are no longer changing patterns but fixed star positions in the sky.
Pegasus according to Greek Mythology
The story goes that Perseus cut off Medusa’s head. Some of Medusa’s blood dripped into the sea. Spilled blood mixed with sea foam, and thus Pegasus was born. He took on his bright white color from the sea foam. A warrior by the name of Bellerophon befriended Pegasus and tried to ride him to Mouth Olympus. Seeing this, Zeus got angry. He then sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus so Bellorophon would fall off. Pegasus was bitten so Bellephon fell to his death. Pegasus got to Mount Olympus alone where he remained forever.
Star clusters in and around constellation Pegasus
M15, a globular cluster, is found within Pegasus. It is a very bright spherical star cluster that lies northwest of Pegasus’s head. The most visible star of Pegasus’s head is called Enif. It is said Pegasus houses more than a dozen galaxies, with NGC 7331 as the brightest. In astrology, Pegasus is the symbol of the new millennium. Its stars are taken as signs of a new consciousness.
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Who Discovered Constellation Taurus
The Mesopotamians were the first to call the bull constellation as Gud Anna. It meant “Bull of Heaven.” Ancient bull images are also found in Spain and France. These images were made of bone, stone, and clay.
On the other hand, Babylonian astronomers believed Taurus was one of the oldest constellations in the sky. In the early Bronze and Chalcolithic Age, Taurus signaled the point of vernal equinox. During the vernal equinox of the 23rd century BC, the Pleiades came closest to the sun. Taurus became very visible in the sky. The Babylonians took that as proof of their belief. They took down Taurus in the MUL.APIN as the “Heavenly Bull.” Its Akkadian name was Shur. Taurus was linked with Zeus in Greek mythology. When the Greek god kidnapped the Phoenician princess Europa, he took the form of a bull.
In the East, the Chinese call Taurus as the White Tiger of the West. It is considered one of the four greatest constellations in Chinese astrology. Taurus’s other name is the Great Bridge. Taurus stood for Osiris, father of Horus to the Egyptians. Osiris is the Egyptian god of the dead and the afterlife.
Taurus’s horn was a symbol of fertility and riches in both the east and west for thousands of years.
Taurus in Modern times
Michael Rappengluck of Germany believes constellation Taurus started with ancient people’s recognition of the Pleiades. It began around 15, 000 BC. In that case Taurus’s discovery supported the Chalcolithic and Upper Paleolithic age beginnings. Rappengluck discovered wall paintings in the caves of Lascaux, in Southwest France But many do not agree with him.
Between May and June the sun passes through Taurus. The dates for Taurus in Astrology start on April 20 to May 20.
How Taurus is formed
Taurus is easily visible in the northern hemisphere sky. It is between Aries and Gemini. To its north is Perseus and Auriga, to its south Eridanus and Orion, to its southwest Cetus.
Hyades is the V-shaped cluster of stars in Taurus’s head. The bull’s red eye is Alderaban. Pleiades is somewhere in Taurus’s shoulder. Leftovers of supernova AD 1054 and Crab nebula are also found inside Taurus. Most times only the tips of the horns are seen up front. The horns are formed by Beta and Zeta. Taurus also contains a spherical cluster of about 400 stars called Hyades. They are found behind Alderaban. It is widely believed three of Taurus’s stars are exoplanets.
The Stars of Taurus
Moreover, Taurus has a number of binary stars. These stars include Struve binaries. The Hyades stars inside Taurus move in the same direction and at almost the same speed. It is believed they all began from one point. The formation dates back between 600-800 million years ago. The stars making up Praesepe may be also related to Taurus.
Taurus has many other less known stars within its sphere. Elnath or Beta Tauri, and Alpha Tauri are close by. Taurus’s highest point occurs in January. Like most constellations, Taurus has open clusters and globular clusters.
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Who Discovered Big Dipper
Big Dipper, or Ursa major, is the 3rd largest constellation. It is easy to spot the Big dipper because it is the only constellation that never sets into the horizon. In England the Big Dipper is known as the Plough. Within Big Dipper you can see other star patterns
Earliest sightings of Big Dipper
The Big Dipper was mentioned quite extensively in ancient Hindu Astronomy. It was called Sapta Rishi, which meant “The Seven Sages.” In China the Big Dipper is considered part of the Northern Dipper. Northern Dipper has seven stars in all which, when taken together, is called “The Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper.”
In the Middle East, Big Dipper’s four stars are seen as a coffin. The three other stars beside it are seen as mourners.
It is unclear who and when the Big Dipper was first sighted. Being a part of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the constellation may have been named and seen for thousands of years. In 2006 Wu Jiacai of China found a stone carving dating back to the Neolithic times (9,500 BCE). Up on Baimiaozi Mountain, Wu picked up a stone shaped like a yam with Big Dipper etchings on the surface. Along with the relic Wu also found weird looking images which he believed were religious artifacts.
Big Dipper according to Greek mythology
The story goes that Zeus fell in love with Callistro, a mortal. Callistro loved adventure and hunting. The ever jealous Hera, Zeus’s wife, got word of this and instantly turned the mortal woman into a bear. Callistro was out hunting and her son Arcas did not know what happened. Sensing his mother might have got in trouble, Arcas resolved to find her. Arcas strayed into a forest and came across a bear. The bear charged at him, and Arcas was ready to defend himself. He drew an arrow for his bow and was ready to kill the bear. To save his former lover from death, the most Zeus could do was change Arcas into a smaller bear. Hera’s curse proved too strong for Zeus. He took both bears by the tail and flung them into the sky where they remained immortal together. All of that was no secret to Hera. She made sure mother and son would not have it easy. She banished them into a part of the sky that never set.
Big Dipper’s planets
There are exoplanets, or livable planets around Big Dipper. As of last count there are ten. None of them are found orbiting the stars of Big Dipper itself. In fact they orbit around the stars of Ursa Major. The most visible of these stars is 47 Ursae Majoris b. It was discovered as an exoplanet in Ursa Major in 1996. Five years later another exoplanet was found near it. It was named 47 Ursae Majoris c. Both exoplanets have a star that is very visible to the naked eye at a magnitude of 5.1
Near and around Big Dipper are superjovian planets. These are planets with incredible mass and size. One such planet is HD 80606 b. The easiest to spot, however, is HAT-P-3 b. It lies at the tip of Big Dipper’s tail. The rest are too distant to be seen.
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Who Discovered Albinism
Albinism causes the skin to lack or lose color. Melanin gives shade to the skin, and when it is not enough or missing, you have albinism. You can have albinism even in the hair and eyes.
Animals and plants can have albinism, too. Albinism in plants goes pretty much like albinism in humans. Albino plants lack chlorophyll (that substance that gives them a green color). Without chlorophyll, plants cannot make food with a little help from the sun. So they end up having short lives. It is not known whether albino humans lead longer lives than normal ones.
Early studies on albinism
The oldest existing records of albinism are found in Germany and Rome. Plinius Secundus the Elder and Aulus Gellius are widely recognized as the first observers of albinism. But the first to consider albinism as a sickness was Archibald Garrod. He studied albinism in 1908. Garrod observed that people with albinism had excessively fair skin and hair.
At times albinism causes the hair to turn deep yellow or red. An albino’s eyes can be blue, brown, or reddish. They cannot stare directly at the sky. Sometimes it could get worse that that. So it is usual to see albinos wearing dark glasses.
How do you acquire albinism
Albinos get the disease from their parents’ genes. An albino’s genes lack the usual amount of melanin. It is said that in the United States alone, 1 person in 17, 000 has albinism to a lesser or greater degree. Albinism is not exclusive to the white race. There are black, Asian, Indian, and Polynesian albinos. In most cases, albinos have normal parents.
Types of albinism
Not all albinos have extremely white skin. Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is the most common. It covers the hair, skin, and eyes. Ocular albinism (OA) is limited to the eyes with a person’s skin and hair appearing slightly fairer than average. OCA comes in different shades: It may have the obvious signs or may only show thin pigmentation. A person with slight OCA has milk-colored hair and skin with a vision of 20/200. In some cases the hair appears yellowish or reddish, and the person’s vision is a little better. In the past, these two types were called “complete” and “incomplete” albinism.
Albinism and vision problems
An albino’s eyes cannot be corrected by wearing glasses. The albino’s low vision depends on how serious his albinism is. In many cases, some albinos are technically blind. Not that they cannot ever see. They just do not have a normal vision range. Albinos can read and drive a car. What is not in place is their retina and nerves that connect the eyes to the brain. An albino’s optical nerves have irregular patterns. That is why they cannot stand staring at bright lights. Albinos are well advised to regularly see their eye doctors.
Albinism and skin problems
As said earlier, not all albinos have excessively white skin or hair. But those who have OCA obviously show signs of skin rashes and dryness. Full blown albinos cannot stand the sun for long. But if they have to, they need to bring an umbrella or put on sunscreen lotion to protect their skin.
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Who Invented the American Flag
The American flag, a symbol of the enduring power of the United States of America, was first hoisted in 1776 with the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain in the canton, but in 1777 the United States Congress approved changing the flag, and a short while later the original thirteen stars representing the 13 colonies was adopted and used by American forces in the War of Independence.
America’s first flag was very similar to the flag familiar to all Americans and a fair percentage of foreign nationals in other countries, it had thirteen red and white alternating stripes, and in the canton a blue field with thirteen silver stars, in some flags arranged in a circle, but in others arranged in a grid. In those days many flags were home-made, but in any event it didn’t really matter how the stars were arranged.
Legend tells us that a homely widow named Betsy Ross, who is portrayed in Bugs Bunny cartoons as an elderly and kind woman with a glowing face and grey hair raised in a bun, was the inventor of the American flag. The story is certainly attractive, Betsy was an all American lady whose husband had passed away many years before. Betsy owned a seamstress shop and had supposedly been a neighbor of George Washington.
In 1870 one of Betsy Ross grandsons, William Canby made startling claims that his grandmother had been approached by George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross who together represented a flag committee established by Congress to design a new flag that didn’t include the Union Jack. Many people still believe that Betsy Ross was the inventor of the American flag but the Congressional Library has no records of a flag committee, and Betsy Ross herself never claimed to have designed the flag.
Prior to the declaration of independence a secret society of men called the Sons of Liberty used a flag of nine alternating red and white stripes that were vertical instead of horizontal. Many historians believe the American flag was based on this, although the first US flag with the Union Jack is almost identical to the flag of the British East India Company.
Another American, who is just as deserving of the hero status awarded to the inventor of the American flag was Francis Hopkinson, a Congressman and one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson designed the Great Seal of the United States, and was also chairman of a Navy board department in 1776-7 when the navy was tasked with creating a flag for the US.
Invoices from Hopkinson which were rejected by Congress for his work on the flag design on the grounds that he had already been paid for his time as a Congressman, the wording suggesting Congress had no issue with him as the designer, only with him wanting to be paid twice.
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Who invented the Paper Clip
Paper clips are such a simple invention most people would be forgiven for thinking they must have been invented thousands of years ago, perhaps by ancient ancestors who first learned to work with tin or iron. Steel is notoriously difficult to work with, and especially so when small items like wire for a paper clip are being produced.
In fact paper clips couldn’t have been invented earlier than 1830, the year an American doctor named John Ireland Howe successfully created a machine that would automate producing pins with a solid head. Previously pins had been made by hand forcing the price of pins out of the reach of most seamstresses in a time when almost all clothing was handmade by the wearer or someone they knew.
John Ireland Howe
Paper clips and pins are obviously quite different, although they have a similar purpose, to keep the item being pinned or clipped organized. After pins were successfully marketed at only a few cents per packet instead of the more expensive dollar that handmade pins had cost, the demand for pins to hold together sheafs of papers became insatiable.
The first turned paper clip wasn’t produced until many years later in 1867 when the Fay paper clip (also known as the Cinch paper clip) was first produced. This was a short length of wire with both ends turned back 120 degrees but leaving a small length of wire between each bend that formed the spine of the clip. A patent was registered to Samuel Fay in 1867, though his paper clip cannot be said to have been widely available until the turn of the century.
By contrast, another design known as the Wright paper clip, invented by Erlman Wright was only patented in 1877 but also marketed and advertised in the same year. The Wright paper clip was specifically advertised as being a replacement for stitching pages together and could hold newspapers together.
In England in the early 1880s a paper clip known as the Gem paper clip was being produced, and this is the version most common today with two rounded ends, but first imported into the US in 1892. The Gem paper clip was never patented in England and in 1904 the Cushman & Denison company obtained a trademark over the name.
Popular folklore claims that a Norwegian man named Johan Vaaler invented the paper clip in 1899 and successfully registered a patent in Germany in 1899, and in the US in 1901. It is true that Vaaler designed his own paper clip in that year and registered the patents, unfortunately his designs never worked since there was no torque being applied to holding the papers resulting in the clip coming loose.
Since many people aren’t aware of Fay and Wright, or even of the English origin of the Gem paper clip Vaaler has been erroneously declared the inventor of the paperclip. The true honor of inventing the paperclip belongs to an American, Samuel Fay.
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Who invented Legos
Children’s building block bricks, a worldwide phenomenon for over 50 years are most well known from the Lego company whose product is regularly used to create spectacular miniature models of well known landmarks such as the Chrysler building in New York, and miniature towns complete with parks, railways, and people going about their business.
Ole Kirk Christiansen
The Lego company are best known for the Automatic Binding Bricks that are made of plastic and have several small studs on top arranged in a grid pattern, and a number of tubes on the underside allowing bricks to connect together firmly without coming apart unless pulled apart. The range of bricks has been substantially expanded to incorporate electronic devices and small motors, as well as wheels, roofs, windows, doors and many other compatible pieces that extend the use of the bricks.
The Lego company was founded in 1932, but didn’t start making plastic toys until 1940. After the end of the war in Europe the founder of the company, Ole Kirk Christiansen started manufacturing the Lego bricks which the company is now known for, and in popular culture becoming identified as the inventor of legos bricks, although history has since corrected this erroneous fact.
In fact, Christiansen was not the inventor of the bricks, back in 1948 he had approached a machinery company in England who he wanted to buy a plastic extruding machine from. The English company sent as samples some of the plastic goods being produced by their customers including a set of inter locking bricks from a UK company Kiddicraft.
Christiansen liked these bricks so modified them slightly and started production of the Lego bricks without first checking to see if Kiddicraft had a patent on the bricks. Kiddicraft was run by its founder, Hilary Fisher, who had invented the self locking bricks and filed patents in 1947, 1949, and 1952 for them. Lego didn’t start producing the bricks until 1949, but didn’t patent their design until 1958.
The true inventor of the Lego bricks then must be recognized as Hilary Fisher from England, who his daughter said after his suicide in 1957, never knew of Lego’s patent infringement. Kiddicraft had been quite aggressive in defending their patent and would have surely sued Lego if they had known. It wasn’t until late 1959 that British Lego Ltd was established to market Lego bricks in the British Isles.
Lego acknowledged that the role played by Fisher and his company Kiidicraft when they bought the rights to Kiddicraft’s bricks for 45,000 pounds in 1981 at the height of a patent infringement case they had brought against Tyco Toys.
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Who invented the Toilet
Toilets are perhaps one of the most useful inventions of all time, at least to anyone who has ever used one, yet despite their function are a fairly recent invention in the history of humankind. There are several versions of toilets, from bed pans, to deep holes dug in the ground, thru to the modern toilet with a flushing mechanism as we know today.
Sir John Harrington
Who first invented a container to be used for human waste is lost in the mists of time, and probably dates back to the first pottery workshops and infirm members of society but archeologists consider these to have been normal pots that were used in difficult circumstances but never intended for the purpose. In ancient India and parts of the Middle East public toilets that used water to wash away the waste have been known for 4,600 years and were flushable toilets with sophisticated sewage systems.
The first modern toilet with a flushing mechanism and a cistern that would automatically stop the running water after the waste had exited the bowl wasn’t invented until 1596 by Sir John Harrington in England. He was a godson of England’s Queen Elizabeth and invented a water closet that was universally ridiculed by his peers for being a rather useless invention. By all accounts Sir John and Queen Elizabeth were the only owners of a Water Closet (WC) in their day.
The idea of a flushable toilet never completely disappeared, and in 1777 another Englishman named Samuel Prosser registered a patent for a toilet sysem that used a plunger to empty a cistern and thus evacuate the bowl. In the same year an improvement to the design was patented by Joseph Bramah. Between 1777 and 1852 a number of designs were invented and patents registered.
1819 was a defining moment in the history of the flushing toilet, this was the year that the silent siphon discharge system was invented by Albert Giblin, but in 1852 the s-trap was finally invented preventing waste odors escaping back into the bowl by the simple use of clean water filling the low point of the bend in the s-trap, a design that is basically the same as modern toilets with few modifications.
An Englishman by the name of Thomas Crapper who was a plumber in London bought the rights to manufacture Giblin’s toilet design and stamped the words ‘T Crapper & Co’ on the bowl of his toilets which were then used by British servicemen during the first world war. The informal name for a toilet, the crapper, is derived from soldiers using Thomas Crapper’s surname instead of the longer more correct name water closet.
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Who invented Fireworks
Fireworks have been in existence for thousands of years, and most experts agree the the Chinese must have invented fireworks over 2000 years ago, perhaps even as much as 2500 years ago. The first fireworks know to these ancient people were discovered by accident when green bamboo stalks exploded in their evening camp fires.
The sound of the explosion frightened them very much and were first attributed to the gods being angry with them but it was quickly discovered that green bamboo always exploded, and priests of the time quickly surmised that if the people were very afraid of the noise then so too must the evil spirits who were known to come out of the hiding places at night.
Chinese alchemists stumbled on a chemicals that could be made to burn very quickly and release a tremendous amount of light and smoke, and would sometimes explode with great force, and this led to the invention of fireworks as we know them today, and also to the invention of gunpowder which medieval Chinese artillery would use to cause damage to the enemy’s forces and defensive walls.
The invention of fireworks similar to those we know today didn’t really start to happen until after Marco Polo returned to Europe from the court of the Kublai Khan, though in Europe the main interest came from military scientists who wanted to develop cannons. Chinese fireworks with fins that would shoot straight up into the air were seen as frivolous and not useful, though they were in fact the predecessor of today’s rockets that propel the space shuttle into orbit.
Italians in the renaissance era were the first to properly develop fireworks that would show different colors when fired up into the air. The original Chinese invention only used white and blue, these being the colors of the compounds, but the Italians were able to invent gold and silver fireworks.
The first written account of fireworks for purely recreational use, and which is still in demand today by fireworks makers was authored by Frenchman Amedee-Francois Frezier in 1706, though earlier Chinese poets and historians had written about the use of fireworks in Chinese festivals and social events.
Even recent inventions of fireworks displays for the general public, and the various types of fireworks seen such as Peonies, Willows, Palms, Rings, Spiders, Roman Candles, and Cakes cannot be claimed to have been invented by any particular person since most fireworks manufacturers compete with one another for the biggest and brightest explosions, and all borrow ideas from each other.
Learn about the history of fireworks.
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