New Years from Above
On New Year’s, pilot Jeff Cremer flew his drone high into the skies of the capital city of Lima in Peru. At midnight, the drone captured a barrage of fireworks across the city from 650 feet in the air. The display is stunning. [Watch video posted above]
“It looks like the start of an air campaign.” -Jeff Cremer
Fireworks Facts
Many people know that fireworks originated in China, but did you know they were first used to scare off mountain men and evil spirits?
Fireworks led to the invention of pyrotechnic weaponry, not the other way around. The bottle rocket preceded the Chinese fire arrow, the first known weaponized rocket.
Though China originally invented them, it wasn’t until an Italian chemist in the 1830s began adding specific chemicals to aerial shells that fireworks became colored.
An experienced fireworks maker can add elements to control the shape, color, and sound of the blast.
Fireworks have also been used in pranks for centuries. In 1731, Rhode Island had to make firework shenanigans illegal after a string of mischief.
Fireworks Burial?
Want to go out with a bang? A UK company offers to blast the ashes of a loved one into the sky in a private fireworks show. Writer Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes were scattered in such a display.
That’s A Lot of Fireworks
Americans use 30,000 tons of fireworks a year, with 2.3 tons used by individuals, not professional shows.
To celebrate the 2012 New Year, over 475,000 pyrotechnics were launched from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
WATCH Chinese Town Celebrate New Years with Showers of Molten Iron
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