Chinese crackers were probably the first fireworks to be made about 2000 years ago. They are still used in China today to celebrate weddings, births and religious festivals - and to scare away evil spirits! Fireworks were used for centuries in ancient Indian and Siamese religious ceremonies. Some of the rockets were 8-10 feet long and were attached to bamboo canes which were 40 feet high! Fireworks were certainly used in Europe by the 14th Century. They were probably brought back from the East by the Crusaders and used for entertainment.

The use and popularity of fireworks was initiated by the Monarchy. The first recorded fireworks in England were at the wedding of King Henry VII in 1486. They gained popularity during the reign of Henry VIII and by Elizabethan times (1558-1603) there was a fireworks master. Queen Elizabeth I created this post so that someone would be in charge of organising displays for great occasions. James II even knighted his fireworks master after a particularly excellent show of fireworks at his coronation.

George II had been fighting a war abroad and, when it was over, he planned an enormous celebration. He decided upon a fireworks display and commissioned the German born composer, George Frederic Handel, who came to Britain in 1727, to compose a concerto to introduce the display. Handel naturally called it "Music for the Royal Fireworks". There were one hundred musicians in the orchestra and an audience of 12,000 people. The event caused one of the first traffic jams in London! The idea of the firework display was to celebrate peace but unfortunately, the outdoor pavilion caught fire making it a very memorable event. Handel's music was a huge success and is still played today to celebrate great events.

In 1605, during the reign of James I, there was a period of unrest. The Gunpowder Plot was a conspiracy by catholic noblemen led by Robert Catesby, to blow up the Houses of Parliament in order to remove James from the throne. Guy Fawkes, born in York in 1570, was chosen by the conspirators as a courageous, level headed soldier who had been abroad fighting in Spain and Holland for eleven years and therefore relatively unknown in London. The plot was foiled when the Government were tipped off and Fawkes was caught red handed in the Houses of Parliament cellar with the gunpowder. He was arrested, tried and hung in January 1606.

Although our celebrations on November 5th are associated with Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, it has its roots in a more ancient tradition. From the 13th century, the word "guy" was used to mean a dummy or effigy. Bonfires and "guys" were part of our ancient religion. The beginning of November marked the start of the pagan year and the first day of winter. Bonfires were lit and torches carried in processions. Sacrifices were also made to drive away evil spirits. These were really Festivals of Light in much the same way as the Hindu Festival of Diwali.