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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Crescent Lake near Dunhuang, China
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Oh, happy day!
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Day of the Dead
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Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia
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Big Bend National Park in Texas turns 81
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World Space Week begins
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Monarch butterflies, Pismo Beach, California
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Wildcat in a winter wonderland
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Glacial spires in the fog
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World Meteorological Day
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All hail the king of shrubs
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The parenting of a piping plover
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Quilts as high art
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The Cutty Sark turns 150
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National Hug Day
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Aerial view of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico
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Wilderness Act anniversary
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Chapel of St. Michel on Lake Serre-Ponçon, Hautes-Alpes, France
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Shark Awareness Day
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National Napping Day
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Nighttime view over the Gulf Coast
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Glendurgan Garden hedge maze is 186 years old
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Birds of a feather
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Striated heron on a Victoria water lily, Pantanal, Brazil
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Burchells zebras for International Zebra Day
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When an ideal microclimate gives you lemons…
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Get amped for Glastonbury
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Astrotourism at its finest
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A winter wonderland in Northeast China
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Mada’in Saleh archeological site in Saudi Arabia
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