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Fireworks and gunpowder
Most of us are familiar with the fact that the Chinese are responsible for the invention of the gunpowder, an innovation without which people nowadays would find it more difficult to kill each other. On the other hand, we wouldn’t have fireworks. However, the discovery was accidental and it dates to the 9th century B.C. Originally utilized as spirit warding powder, some of the weapon potential of gunpowder was unlocked about 200 years later when the Chinese alchemists had managed to perfect 6 highly flammable formulas of the compound. While they were not able to make it explode, early gun powder was still highly flammable, which made it perfect for arrow tips and even rudimentary flamethrowers.
