Why do we have fireworks for the fourth?

By George Stone, TRAVEL Executive Editor

It’s a holiday weekend—and wow, do we need one! I think most people need a vacation from not taking vacations. Now that we are cautiously planning trips again, we find the world has changed—and perhaps so have we.

Which makes traditions all the more important. Summertime family reunions and cookouts—I’m looking at you, Fourth of July—help us mark and measure our days. This summer, many of us will see friends and relatives we’ve missed for a long time. Pro tip: Hugs feel better when you’re fully vaccinated.

To the chagrin of dogs everywhere, some of us will mark this weekend with fireworks. Why? “A year after the United States of America declared independence on July 4, 1776, accounts from both John Adams and the Virginia Gazette say the former colonists launched fireworks to celebrate,” writes Claire Wolters. But these “quintessential emblems of nationalism” have a global history that dates back millennia. (Pictured above, a 900-foot-wide American flag, in fireworks.)

“China may have invented fireworks (which Marco Polo brought to Europe in 1295), but the colorful displays you see today are courtesy of Italian pyrotechnicians who, in the 1830s, roughly a thousand years later, figured out that metallic powders could be used to create specific colors,” writes Karen Gardiner.

Since then, fireworks have gone high-tech, with smiley faces and hearts that burst into the sky. But you probably can’t write your name in the stars yet, reports Maya Wei-Haas. “Though some companies have achieved short, blocky acronyms, writing with fireworks is still a pyrotechnic puzzle. Her article explains why working with words is such a fiery feat.

Speaking of words, the lyrics of “America the Beautiful”—scholar and social activist Katharine Lee Bates’s patriotic poem—were inspired by her journey across the U.S. in 1893. “She spent July 4 in the prairie, in western Kansas, eyeing its amber waves of grain. She wrote in her diary that she considered herself “a better American for such a Fourth.” The next day, she reached Colorado Springs, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, in all their purple majesty,” writes Jill Lepore in her foreword to National Geographic’s America the Beautiful: A Story in Photographs.

Fireworks may sparkle, but when America is beautiful, it’s because of its people (diverse, equal, and good-hearted), our lands (biodiverse and boundless), and our liberty (not to be denied to anyone). Here’s to justice for all.

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INSTAGRAM OF THE DAY

Splash! Visitors enjoy a sunbath and a swim in the Adriatic Sea along the rocky coast of Old Town Dubrovnik, Croatia. Beaches in Dubrovnik are hard to come by. Outside the towering walls of the old town there are only rocky cliffs and mounds meeting the sea. That doesn’t stop people from laying out their towels, enjoying the sun, and jumping off the nearby cliffs.

Summer sips: This Croatian seaside paradise has made delicious wine for 2,400 years

TODAY IN A MINUTE

Traveling for the holiday? So are a lot of people, the Wall Street Journal reports. Now that half of Americans are fully vaccinated, about 47 million people are expected to hit the road from now until Monday. This weekend is expected to have the highest Independence Day auto-travel volume on record, surpassing 2019 levels.

Signs of recovery: Tourism in parts of the Caribbean appears to be rebounding. The Dominican Republic had 1.4 million visitors in the first five months of the year, Hector Manuel Valdez Albizu, the country’s central bank president, told Bloomberg. The Bahamas is also starting to receive cruise ships, and hotels are rehiring workers who were laid off last year.

Cruises are back: The slot machines are on, but the buffets have disappeared. There are “a lot less people,” observed one passenger aboard the Celebrity Edge, the first cruise ship to depart a U.S. port in more than 15 months, CNN reports. “The theater—it’s so easy to get a seat right now. In a full cruise, you might wait in line.”

The accessible outdoors: At national parks, rough terrain and other unexpected barriers (courtesy of Mother Nature) can pose difficulties for wheelchair users looking to explore. But paved trails at many parks—Everglades, Sequoia, and Zion, among them—help wheelchair users get up close and personal with nature, Nat Geo reports.

THE BIG TAKEAWAY

Now open: The Empire State Trail winds past numerous old mills, including this one pictured above on Claverack Creek in upstate New York. Measuring 750 miles, the EST, a T-shaped path linking New York City to the Adirondacks, and Albany to Buffalo, is the longest multi-use rail trail in the United States. It stitches together 20 regional trails into a year-round corridor for walkers, cyclists, hikers, and cross-country skiers. It’s also ADA compliant, a rarity in rural areas, Robin Catalano reports for Nat Geo.

IN A FEW WORDS

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LAST GLIMPSE

A tradition that’s evolving: Hand-making paper from the mulberry plant is a centuries-old tradition in Japan, and the art has been recognized by UNESCO. The paper forms the base for parade floats that are the centerpieces of a weeklong summertime festival. These days, however, the floats have been covered by machine-made paper instead of the delicate handmade paper, known as washi. (Above, master calligrapher Tadashi Kawamata writes on washi.) Why the switch? Downpours during parades have ruined the lettering on the traditional paper, and organizers have needed some synthetic fibers to be rain resistant. “You can still see the paper fibers in it, like handmade washi, and it shares many of the qualities,” float maker Hiroo Takenami tells Nat Geo.

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