The citizens of Morton, Minnesota, are probably doing a repeat performance of this pyrotechnic display today as they join the rest of the US in a celebration of Independence Day. If you want to blow the minds of your family and friends at the barbecue, steer the conversation toward fireworks and casually drop this truth bomb: Gunpowder, the fuel that makes the fireworks explode, was invented in ancient China by Taoist alchemists who hoped to create an immortality elixir. That’s some dramatic irony, at least in hindsight. Be safe!
Let’s celebrate
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Combating extinction with citizen science
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Tokyo welcomes a futuristic new art museum
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Bormio, Lombardy, Italy
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A bird of beauty
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Up, up, and away for Hot Air Balloon Day
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Bukhansan National Park, South Korea
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Ruins of Inca temples and terraces on Huayna Picchu, Peru
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A Christmas market with a long history
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World Maritime Day
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Four Sisters, thousands of trees
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Old man s whiskers growing wild
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A glittering diamond in the rough
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Kochelsee in Bavaria
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National Mushroom Month
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Aerial view of Venice, Italy
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Tasiilaq, Greenland
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Drop in on International Surfing Day
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Muskoxen in Dovre-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Norway
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Mod gear
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Happy anniversary to the National Park Service!
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National Take a Hike Day
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A midsummer twilight s dream
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Dark Sky Week
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Wildflower bloom, Central Valley, California
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Madame Sherri Forest, New Hampshire
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A most sincere pumpkin patch
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The meeting point of the winds
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Celebrating sea otters
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Fall comes to Pando
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Sea Otter Awareness Week
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