Q 01/05

The earliest firecrackers are thought to have been set off so that their loud bangs would drive away what?

A) Storm clouds

B) Swarms of locusts

C) Enemy soldiers

D) Evil spirits

Answer · why

D) Evil spirits

Evil spirits were the target centuries before fireworks were pretty, and the explosive powder itself was probably an accident: alchemists found it whi...

Q 02/05

Which composer wrote Music for the Royal Fireworks for a 1749 display in London?

A) Johann Sebastian Bach

B) George Frideric Handel

C) Joseph Haydn

D) Antonio Vivaldi

Answer · why

B) George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel drew such crowds that London Bridge jammed for hours, but the display itself flopped: it rained, many fireworks misfired and pa...

Q 03/05

More than 2,000 years ago, long before gunpowder, what did people throw into fires to make a loud bang?

A) Clay pots

B) Salt crystals

C) Bamboo stems

D) Chestnuts

Answer · why

C) Bamboo stems

Bamboo stems hold pockets of trapped air that burst in the heat, and the word for firecracker, baozhu, still literally means 'exploding bamboo'.

Q 04/05

Which three ingredients make up traditional gunpowder?

A) Phosphorus, charcoal and quicklime

B) Phosphorus, magnesium and saltpeter

C) Sulfur, magnesium and quicklime

D) Sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter

Answer · why

D) Sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter

Sulfur and charcoal are the fuel; saltpeter, potassium nitrate, supplies the oxygen so it can burn fast without air.

Q 05/05

Which colour is notoriously the hardest to produce in fireworks?

A) Blue

B) Green

C) Red

D) Gold

Answer · why

A) Blue

Copper compounds have to burn at a very precise temperature; a deep, rich blue is considered the mark of an expert maker.