Why we celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks

Seems like the history of fireworks on July 4th is as old as America. There's a reason for that.

On the first Independence Day celebration, July 4th, 1777, Americans gathered to watch as the the sky was illuminated to celebrate the new nation.

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We owe the celebrations to John Adams, one of the founding fathers, who mentioned the festivities in a letter to his wife Abigail Adams.

"I am apt to believe that the Independence Day will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival," he wrote.

"It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

And so the evening was closed with the ringing of bells and fireworks which began and ended with thirteen rockets symbolizing the 13 original colonies.

But that first firework display probably doesn't compare to today's choreographed, pyrotechnic events, some costing more than $6 million for the fireworks alone.

John Adams would be proud.

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