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
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Cecil Brewer Staircase, London
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Daylight saving time begins
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A peak in the clouds
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Avatars of the Wolf Moon
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Rockin with the rockhoppers
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National Hummingbird Day
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Poppies in bloom
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Signs of life in the Empty Quarter
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Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
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Happy Holi!
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International Day for Biodiversity
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The mighty, mighty mushroom
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Wildebeest on the move
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Ahh-tumn
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National Park Week: Olympic National Park, Washington
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Least chipmunk, Kootenai National Forest, Montana
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Glacier cave in Iceland
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International Day of the World s Indigenous Peoples
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