Founding Father John Adams once wrote that American independence should be celebrated with "illuminations from one end of this continent to the other" Charna Flam is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. She ...

Philadelphia’s role in American history will get a literal spark this spring with a new exhibition tracing the science, spectacle and global roots of fireworks. “Flash! Bang! Boom! A History of ...

If you don’t see them, you hear them. On any July Fourth or New Year’s Eve, it’s common to experience the loud pop of a firework or see it colorfully explode into the sky and hang there briefly.

Americans across all 50 states are prepping for the Fourth of July and, of course, the rousing celebrations that come with it. Booming fireworks, patriotic parades, and outdoor barbeques have become ...

In “Joseph Balsamo” (1846-48), Alexandre Dumas’s fantastical tale of alchemy and mesmerism, the nail-biting climactic scene isn’t a magic act, a murder or a séance. It’s a fireworks show hosted by ...

ST. LOUIS — The Fourth of July is Americana at its core: parades and cookouts and cold beer and, of course, fireworks. Those pyrotechnics also make it an especially dangerous holiday, typically ...