Reels tagged #fire
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Inventions
Early matches were dangerous to make and use
The first friction matches from 1826 ignited unpredictably, and white phosphorus versions poisoned factory workers. Safety matches split the chemicals between head and striking strip.
Up Helly Aa
Shetland burns a Viking longship every January
Up Helly Aa ends with a thousand torch-bearers circling a replica galley and hurling their torches in. The festival is Victorian, invented in the 1880s, but the Norse roots are real.
Las Fallas
Valencia burns a year of art in one night
Neighbourhoods spend months building giant satirical ninot figures, then set them all alight on 19 March. Only one, voted the public favourite, is pardoned and kept in a museum.