Awesome Fireworks

Lots of people celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks, but maker Peter Sripol won’t settle for those cheap little fireworks you can buy at the store. After making a gigantic spinning firework last year, he built a super-size version of one of those unpredictable rocket-style fireworks.

Back in the 19th century in Wales, one of the common ways of celebrating was with something called a rock cannon. Tom Scott reminisces about these forgotten gunpowder displays and works with a professional pyrotechnician to reproduce their explosive effect.

It seems as if every year, the number of backyard fireworks displays on July 4th increases exponentially, and in 2020, things have been truly insane. Using aerial footage captured by KTLA’s Sky5 chopper, editor Mike Dent turned Los Angeles into a scene right out of Blade Runner. The only thing missing is the Tyrell Corporation HQ.

Independence Day is nearly upon us, so it’s time to amp up the fireworks beyond the nightly booms of cherry bombs and M80s to something a little more spectacular. Maker Peter Sripol decided to see if he and his pal Sam could build oversize versions of two kinds of spinning fireworks displays, each powered by model rocket motors.

As part of the festivities at the 2020 Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival in Colorado, the pyrotechnics experts from Steamboat Fireworks bested the previous world record for largest firework shell by launching a 62-inch explosive package sky-high, illuminating the night skies for miles around.

Senko Hanabi fireworks are a traditional Japanese form of pyrotechnics that uses only a tiny bit of combustible powder to get started, then transforms through various stages to produce a sparkler effect. NightHawkInLight scored a rare lesson on how to make them at the Tsutsui Tokimasa fireworks company. Money shot at 14:18.

We’ve seen a plane shoot off fireworks before, and it’s pretty amazing. Now, thanks to all-around good guy Tom Scott and the guys at British aerobatics display team Aerosparx, we’ve been granted front-row access to a practice run, along with an explanation of how they pull off their flying spectacle.

To celebrate reaching 8 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, inventor Colin Furze fabricated a gigantic pendulum and loaded it up with roughly 4000 fireworks. The resulting show was quite spectacular once he started it swinging and hit the ignition. Build video here.

You know those fireworks that look like a tiny tank? Well builder Peter Sripol decided to celebrate the 4th of July (and 1 million subscribers) by building himself a gigantic replica of the thing. Naturally, his version makes a lot more fire. Plus, it was reusable – at least for a while.

Each July, Pyro Spectactulars by Souza produces hundreds of fireworks shows to celebrate America’s Independence Day. Wired spent a little time with pyrotechnics expert Jim Souza to walk us through some of the science and magic behind the scenes of these explosive spectacles.

Gav and Dan wrap up their Planet Slow-mo series with an explosive finish. They set off a 120+ foot-wide line of fireworks, each loaded up with colorful paints. The first run didn’t detonate quite right, but fortunately, they got a second go at it.

The daredevil stunt plane Scandinavian Catwalk performed this epic light show at Australia’s 2019 Avalon Airshow. Watch in awe as the plane shoots a stream of fireworks and laser beams, perfectly timed to the music, all while performing flips and rolls in the sky.

Colin Furze celebrated hitting 7 million subscribers by putting a thousand rocket fireworks each on two trucks face to face, then let ’em fly. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was a glorious few seconds. Skip to 5:00 for the spectacle.

How to Make Everything shares a brief history of fireworks, and how they work. Then he gathers the ingredients he needs to make them from scratch, including bat droppings. The resulting fireworks made for a pretty quiet Fourth of July, but technically they still worked.

World of Tanks commissioned maker Peter Sripol to come up with a hell of a way to celebrate the fourth of July. Peter and his buddy made a rideable mini tank out of wood, steel and the electronics from a wheelchair. Then they armed it with fireworks.

Colin Furze celebrated Guy Fawkes Night by attacking a washing machine with fireworks. He kept fixing the battered appliance, only to subject it to increasingly stronger pyrotechnics. Remember, remember, this poor machine dismembered.

Because owning a rocket-powered bicycle wasn’t enough, Colin Furze decided to build a bike that launches rockets instead. He built, and then pedaled this insane ride to celebrate reaching 5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Build video here.

Senko Hanabi is a Japanese firework that is lit upside down and emits wonderful tiny sparks. Even though it’s made of commonly found materials, NighthawkInLight says he’s been working on it for 10 years and still hasn’t perfected the sparkler.

To celebrate the 4th of July, the guys from The Hoonigans took their bargain-priced American flag-wrapped junk car and turned it into a dangerous looking fireworks show on wheels. We’re a bit perplexed that they chose to use a German car to celebrate America’s birthday.

YouTuber Thehollandrocket is going to make bank from ants on the Fourth of July. He made dozens of working miniature fireworks including labels and a stand to sell them from. We love how he was able to make all of that but he doesn’t have tiny money.

If you thought that lighting 10,000 sparklers at the same time was spectacular, get a load of this video from JoyBlend, in which 20 times as much of the incediary mixture they put on the end of sparklers gets set ablaze. They cheated a bit, but the explosion is still awesome.

Hold on to your eyeballs. Lovin Malta says Manwel Gauci of the Santa Katarina VM fireworks club made this 573lb ball of daylight. This was in September – imagine what their New Year’s celebration is like. Skip to 1:33. Drone POV here.

The Slow Mo Guys played with waterproof fireworks in a small tank to see how they would react with the water underneath and at the surface. At 120,000 frames per second, the world turns into CGI. A world that takes up 24GB per second.

Grant “The King of Random” Thompson came across some brilliantly sparkling fireworks and decided to see what would happen if he combined six of them into one giant ball of flame and sparks. The resulting explosion is quite spectacular – especially in slow-mo.

The mad inventor Colin Furze celebrated having 3 million subscribers (and counting) by setting off 58 boxes of fireworks, each with 87 shots, all at once. The only appropriate response to the result is to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Colin Furze made an RPG-style launcher for rocket fireworks. It can literally knock your socks off (if you cut the socks and tie them to the rocket). We love how he made a barrier to protect his face but he’s okay with the gas tank being inches away from his head.