Gregory Hall, age 10, of Thoreau, N.M., for his question:

WHO DISCOVERED FIREWORKS OR FIRECRACKERS?

July 4 has long since passed, and the fading memories of brilliant pyrotechnic displays are giving way to thoughts of Christmas. The calendar, however, has a habit of turning pages faster than we care to remember, and before you know it fireworks time will be here again. And you might find our next Independence Day even more exciting and interesting if you're armed with a bit of historical fact.

People in the Western world have enjoyed watching fireworks for several hundred years. However, long before there were fireworks in Europe, they were present in the orient. The Chinese invented gunpowder, which is the same explosive powder they used to make firecrackers. Records show that these explosive devices were used in China during the 7th century. Exactly how the firecracker traveled from China to Europe is still a mystery, but they were not manufactured in Europe until the close of the 13th century.