4th of July Firework Bonanza!

Did you know that we have John Adams, 2nd President of the United States, to thank for fireworks on today's National Holiday?



He wrote this to his wife the day before the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia:

"It ought to be solemnized with…illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

So it shall be written. So it shall be done.

Inspired by a story from Mental Floss that I saw in Reader's Digest, today's post shows some of my favorite fireworks photos as well as ten different types of fireworks outlined in the Mental Floss post. At first I attempted to pair my photos with their ID, but soon got bored with my failure to match every one. Today would be a Reader's Digest attention-span day. Here we go with the 10 different types of fireworks and an initial photo from July 17, 1968 in Genuine FauxD©.

1. The Peony. This "spherical break of colored stars" is apparently the most common.



2. The Chrysanthemum. A variation of the Peony, with the difference being that the stars leave a visible trail of sparks.



3. The Willow. Produces trails of silver or gold stars that leave a weeping willow-ish outline.



4. The Horsetail. It's a compact little burst that falls down, well, like a horsetail. You might also hear this one referred to as a Waterfall Shell.



5. The Fish. The shell bursts and then you see little squiggles of light squirming away from the main burst. The effect looks like fish swimming away.



6. The Spider. Fast-burning and powerful, this one shoots stars straight out such that they look like spider legs.



7. The Palm. When this one bursts, it looks like a palm tree.





8. The Crosette. Take lots of tic-tac-toe boards and cross them over each other haphazardly. Usually accompanied by a loud crackling noise.



9. The Kamuro. Named after a Japanese hairstyle, this one has a dense burst that leaves a glittery trail.



10. The Rings. Can be arranged to look like atoms, which is very mental_floss-y. But typically you see rings within rings.

See more Daveland Disneyland Fireworks photos at my main website.