Answer: China

The first fireworks originated in China nearly 1400 years ago. As early as 200 B.C. the Chinese were crafting simple natural firecrackers from bamboo shoots. They would throw segments of bamboo into fires and as the bamboo roasted the moisture and sap inside would cook off within the bamboo segment leading to a pressure-driven explosion. The noises startled any animals or unaware people nearby and the process of cooking bamboo off to such noisy effect was quickly integrated into religious rituals intended to scare off evil spirits.

Eight centuries later in 600 A.D. Chinese alchemists stumbled upon a primitive form of gun powder by mixing salt peter, charcoal, and sulfur, among other ingredients. The mixture was initially used to create the worlds first pyrotechnic firecrackers via stuffing the chambers of bamboo. Later the process was refined both in military application (by the 10th century the Chinese were attaching the explosive bamboo bundles to arrows and launching them into groups of enemy soldiers) and for early aerial fireworks displays.

By the 13th century fireworks slowly trickled into the Middle East and Europe but it wasn’t until the 17th century, when a fascination with all things Chinese reached a peak, that European interest in fireworks really took off.

Despite the spread of fireworks technology across the globe, China remains the largest manufacturer of fireworks in the world manufacturing a staggering 90% of the fireworks stock.