Have a happy 4th of July! Be Safe!
Fireworks were initially invented by the Chinese, and likely the medical protocol for missing hands from explosions followed shortly. 
In the United States July the Fourth represents the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, although the real date might have been July 2 depending on your legal point of view. The making of “joyous” noise and so forth slowly became a tradition, with the slow communications and independent nature of the US in the early years slowed the adoption of the fireworks and parades.
If you are going to the beach, make sure that you enter the water in a manner that allows you to check out the new environment, and all waters, except pools, are renewed everyday. I surf quite often, but I always, and I mean always do a quick wade out to check for sandbars, etc. Please do the same.
Fireworks are interesting since they are really the basis for our current civilization. If we didn’t have fireworks, created by the Chinese, then wars would have been forced to be fought with arrows, rocks, and catapults. The idea of combustion would have delayed and Carnot might not have investigated the concepts of Thermodynamics. Exploration of the Solar System would not have happened, and now with Voyager and the Pioneer craft would not have passed the edges of the Solar System.
July 4th is an important date in American History: Completing the signing of the Declaration of Independence
One of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was a “gentleman” scientist, as well as other things best not mentioned. He and one of his friends were into the science of cryptology. The Wall Street Journal carried an article on July 2, 2009 telling about a letter exchange between President Jefferson and his friend, his friend created a cipher so complex that he maintained that it couldn’t be broken by the entire human race. Like most ciphers, it is now broken, take a look at the article:
Using Bing, I quickly found the Professor who managed to crack the code: Lawren Smithline
One more thing about Thomas Jefferson, finished the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776, a sign of a good software developer. :)
Bottom line: Be safe, have fun, celebrate Independence! no matter where you are, write something important.