My ten year old wants to know .... why do kids always ask awkward questions?
2006-11-05 09:06:04 · 10 answers · asked by Kris B 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
i think the Chinese used them to ward away evil spirits to over see the new year.
2006-11-05 09:10:19 · answer #1 · answered by Heather 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do schools not teach History any more??? Fireworks are a celebration of parliament NOT being blown up by Guy Fawkes in 1605.
He and a group of friends tried (Using gun powder ((The main ingredient in fireworks!!!)) ) to blow up the houses of parliament, and failed and was burnt at the stake.
So after this, every year a fake guy fawkes was always put in the middle of a bonfire, and fireworks were let off, to commemorate the fact that Guy Fawkes failed to assasinate an entire government.
2006-11-05 09:12:24 · answer #2 · answered by Resolution 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, guess to celebrate the defeat of "The Gunpowder Plot" in this case.
However, the anecdote about the Chinese chef is probably tops for answering the question in a literal sense, because they were invented.
If anyone can tell us now why the South Koreans set thousands of the things off on the beaches and the banks of the Han River almost every night, I would be very happy. The answer I got in Seoul was "Because they like them", and perhaps that's not too much of a bad answer after all...
2006-11-05 09:59:14 · answer #3 · answered by Roy F 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
'Cause they're cool.
Of course you could always claim that they are used to celebrate other explosive-base events. Americans do fireworks on the Fourth of July in memory of the War of Independenct (rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air, et cetera). Brits do fireworks on Bonfire Night in memory of Guy Fawkes' attempt to blow up Parliament.
But that doesn't explain why they're fired off on New Years in some places. Or any other holiday celebrating stuff that doesn't blow up. The only real explanation is that they make people go "Oooo!" and "Aaahhh!". And when you're celebrating, that's pretty cool.
2006-11-05 09:24:44 · answer #4 · answered by jaywalk57 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The birthplace of fireworks is generally recognized as China. It is said that a Chinese cook accidently mixed three common kitchen ingredients (black powder): Potassium nitrate or salt petre, sulphur and charcoal and lighted it. The result was colourful flames. The cook also noticed that if the mixture was burned when enclosed in the hollow of a bamboo shoot, there was a tremendous explosion. The first application of this technology was for entertainment. Slowly the theory took roots that this loud sound was perfect to chase away evil spirits and to celebrate weddings, victories in battles, eclipses of moon and religious ceremonies.
2006-11-05 09:10:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is because of the Gunpowder plot. Guy Fawkes (who was a catholic) Tried to blow up the houses of parliament on November 5th, many years ago, as the king was due to be there, but his plot was folied and he was burned for his treachery, ordered by the then protestant king. This is why we have fireworks to represent something like what would have happened had he succeeded, and we have a bonfire and put a Guy fawkes on it to represent what happened to him.
Bonfire Night is celebrated across the UK on 5 November. The date marks the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes1 along with a group of co-conspirators in London in 1605.
The intention was to kill King James I and wipe out everyone in government. The group were Catholic extremists who wanted to return England to the Catholic faith. One of the conspirators had a friend in the Houses of Parliament and sent a letter to him, warning him to stay away from the House on the day the attack was supposed to take place. The letter was intercepted and handed to the king.
Meanwhile, Guy Fawkes and friends, having formulated their plan, known as the 'Gunpowder Plot', had rolled 36 barrels of gunpowder into the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, and were waiting for the king to arrive when guards broke in and arrested them. They were tortured and executed.
So now we celebrate with Bonfire night and fireworks. The Americans celebrate their independance much like this too, to represent their cannons and guns and such in war, and nowadays people use them for all sorts of celebrations, mainly because they can be amazing and be seen from far around.
I assume you were talking about the brit bonfire night though as it is tonight. Its not always about the Americans. lol. Hope this helped. xxxxxxxxx
Hope this helped. xx
2006-11-05 09:18:07 · answer #6 · answered by Kelly D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea, yea, all the chinese stuff. That's the ORIGINAL origin, they invented specifically fireworks, but on the 4th we celebrate with fireworks to commemorate the battles that took place in the revolutionary war and esp. the war of 1812, where our independence was won/retained. It represents the cannons blazing and the guns firing fighting for our freedom. Just listen to our national anthem.
2006-11-05 09:13:56 · answer #7 · answered by james v 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
to see hoe long it is before we all snap from being woke up at 2 in the morning with flaming rockets going off!
2006-11-05 09:23:32 · answer #8 · answered by madmoo0 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just tell you kid to count to 1 million and then you will answer the question..
Then you don't have to worry about explaining the ? to him.
2006-11-05 09:09:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
because chinesse people invented it....
2006-11-05 09:08:48 · answer #10 · answered by kaoz22 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋