One Chinese businessman controls 70% of the fireworks entering the US

China makes 90% of the world's fireworks, with Liuyang as its production capital

Fireworks were invented in China, but their predecessor, the firecracker, was discovered in Liuyang upon burning bamboo. Pyrotechnics have since become part of the city's culture. Liuyang has won many international fireworks display competitions.

Fireworks-related ER visits in 2024 increased by 52% as compared to the prior year

In 2023, there were 9,700 such injuries, but the number was 14,700 in 2024, according to analysis from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Personal use of fireworks grew significantly during the pandemic, in part due to cancellations of public display shows, and that use has apparently continued—and prompted more injuries. What's more, the Census Bureau indicates that firework imports increased by around 19% between 2023 and 2024.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Hormone and peptide compounds imported from China soared in 2025

US customs data indicates that these imports doubled to $328M in the first three quarters of 2025, from $164M in the same period of 2024. The imports include GLPs, among other products. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

A New York fireworks ban necessitated a new way to ring in the New Year

In 1906, the city banned fireworks displays, forcing the Times Square celebration to find a new centerpiece. The Times commissioned Jacob Starr, a Ukrainian immigrant who worked for Strauss Signs, to develop an ornament. He returned with the now-iconic New Year’s ball.

Watch a pyrotechnician answer questions about fireworks

Professional pyrotechnician Patrick Cyrana answers the internet’s most curious questions about fireworks, from designing ghost effects and exploring how electronic firing systems work to explaining what it takes to create displays in the rain.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

The TikTok sale went through in January 2026

The app's ownership is now majority American, though TikTok CEO Shou Chew, who is Chinese, remains on the board of directors. It's unclear what, if anything, has changed for American users, as the company has historically kept the specifics of its algorithm a secret.

Trade between the US and China has increased in recent decades

After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the trade partnership between the US and China bloomed. But it's not without pros and cons, including lower prices for US consumers and higher profits for US corporations alongside the loss of American jobs due to import competition and multinational companies moving overseas.

China's National Sword policy banned imports of most recyclable materials

In 2018, China stopped accepting most of the world's recyclables. This highlighted how dependent the US recycling system was on a single foreign buyer and forced cities to landfill materials they had once diverted.

A catalog of 3,000 ornate Chinese cigarette boxes and brands

China's vast, state-owned tobacco market has produced enough regional brands and packaging variants to sustain a dedicated collector community. Ciggies.app functions as both a product database and an enthusiast social network, with entries spanning current mainland releases, historical discontinued brands, and international imports.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

David Stern brought the NBA to China

In 1987, he started shipping VHS tapes of games to state-run TV stations in China, and opened an NBA office there by 1992. Today, China is the league’s second-largest market.

The FBI once raided Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's home

In 2024, after Polymarket markets favored what turned out to be the winning outcome of the US presidential election, agents raided Coplan's New York City apartment. Coplan, who was only 26 years old at the time, was home during the raid and turned over his devices to authorities.

BYD Auto is the largest EV maker in China, overtaking Tesla

As of 2023, the company has 40% of the electric vehicle market in China and produces more than 3 million EVs for customers worldwide. Its vertical integration, which includes building its own batteries and cargo ships, has allowed BYD to lower retail costs.

Elon Musk founded SpaceX after being unable to purchase affordable rockets abroad

The company simplified manufacturing and revolutionized space travel by focusing on in-house production and reusability. Their Falcon 9 rocket's ability to land vertically and be partially reused led to 91 successful launches in 2023.

Former Temu CEO Colin Huang is among China's richest people

With a $43.3B net worth as of September 2025, Huang was the founder of PDD Holdings, Temu’s parent company.

86% of the world's 12,321 nuclear warheads are held by just two countries

As of early 2026, the US and Russia together control about 86% of the world's more than 12,000 nuclear warheads—over 9,600 in military stockpiles. None of the seven other nuclear nations holds more than 600.

Pop Mart is the company behind the viral Labubu toy craze

Labubus, the Chinese collectible toys, are being heralded as the next Beanie Babies. Pop Mart, the company behind the Labubus, is using a few psychological tools to keep the Labubu economy booming.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

How a government chemist founded the FDA—by poisoning people

The Poison Squad tells the story of government chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley who, determined to banish these dangerous substances from dinner tables, took on the powerful food manufacturers and their allies.

How the Rockefellers' wealth evolved over time

The Rockefellers built one of the most powerful business empires in US history. By the early 1900s, their company, Standard Oil, controlled over 90% of the US oil market.

Jimmy Zhong pulled off one of the biggest bitcoin heists in history

Jimmy Zhong performed a bitcoin heist—stealing more than 51,000 BTC from Silk Road in 2012. For years, he stayed under the radar, using crypto mixers to hide his tracks. But one small mistake in 2019 led investigators straight to him.

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and later used his fortune to fund peace prizes

Nobel stabilized dangerous nitroglycerin to create dynamite, revolutionizing construction and mining in the 19th century. Despite his success with explosives, he was deeply disturbed by their destructive potential and redirected his legacy toward rewarding human progress.

The East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment explained

A train transporting a number of potentially dangerous chemicals derailed near the Ohio–Pennsylvania border in early February 2023. The extent of the leak has caused a number of environmental concerns and required a controlled burn to clear most...

Container ships are just a fraction of total traffic via the canal

While more container ships traverse the canal than any other type of ship, vessels carrying dry bulk goods, vehicle carriers, chemical tankers, passenger ships, and more also pass through the Central American passageway.

Mark Zuckerberg, Katy Perry, and other celebrities have attended Burning Man

Burning Man is an expensive endeavor, most attractive and accessible to those with deep pockets and an interest in artistic endeavors. Therefore it’s no surprise the event attracts various famous innovators and entertainers, including the world's richest people.

A list of one guy's hundreds of fortune cookie fortunes

Simple idea: Eat lots of Chinese food, collect wisdom in the form of fortunes. Josh Madison held onto hundreds of these and lists them here, noting the ones he received more than once with a number.

A visit to the Federal Helium Reserve, which once supplied up to 30% of US helium

The underground storage facility in Amarillo, Texas, was established by the Helium Act in 1925, when helium was viewed as a strategic resource whose export could enable other nations to use it for military airships. The Helium Privatization Act of 1996 instructed the Department of the Interior to begin selling off the facility and reserve, with the final sale occurring in 2024.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US