To make these loud explosions, which are usually accompanied by a bright white flash, firework manufacturers use mixtures of perchlorate, a different kind of explosive than black powder.

The accident is altogether unprecedented; nothing like it could have happened to a manufactory of common black gunpowder. We now come to the process of manufacture. The inventor begins by taking ...

Ingredients for black gunpowder "'Wabi' launched in the Edo period was a dark orange color. The light depended on the black gunpowder used," said Takehiro Matsunaga, an invited researcher in ...