Above, a visit to a building in Liuyang, China where stacks of roman candle tubes and pop-its cover the floor. This is a fireworks machine trade show, where companies purchase contraptions for cranking out explosions of all kinds. Liuyang is commonly known as the fireworks capital of China. Here are some of the captivating machines that make (or break) July 4th and New Years Eve in the US.
(Props to Tasick Media on YouTube)
And as a bonus, here's a video of another machine that was used for manufacturing M-80s before they were outlawed in the US in 1966 (unless you have a license):
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In Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, a gentleman's car exploded after he reportedly sprayed "excessive" amount of air freshener and then lit a cigarette. From the BBC News:
Gas from the spray ignited, blew out the windscreen and windows and buckled the doors but the man escaped with only minor injuries.
Police said the incident in Halifax on Saturday "could've been worse" and warned people to follow safety advice.
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Someone dropped donated a live mortar shell to Goodwill in Placerville, Califonia. While the shell, thought to be leftover from World War II, would likely have fetched more than the usual bric-à-brac on offer, the organization is clear that they don't accept donations of live ammunition. From CBS Sacramento:
Goodwill says people often drop off items in boxes that haven’t been looked through, and sometimes the donations are from a deceased war veteran...
“As we sort through those things we often find war memorabilia, grenades, it’s rare that we find a live grenade or any live ammunition, but when we do we have protocols in place to make sure that we dispose of it safely,” said Richard Abrusci, President and CEO of Goodwill Sacramento.
In the case of this potentially explosive mortar, the bomb squad came in to take it away and disposed of it at Travis Air Force Base.
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"Fireworks," a classic by PES. Happy Independence Day!
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near which the water pipe passed.
(KVN via DIGG)
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Mike Armstrong had just walked over a grate in downtown Toronto when this happened:
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