One of the Four Great Inventions - gunpowder, made another that is not considered so ”great” but it sure made less damage in time and made more people happy than gunpowder. It was fireworks. Read more about its history.
Fireworks were invented in China, after the invention of gunpowder, as a ritual for chasing away evil spirits. From a ritual they turned into a way to make celebrations more grandiose and beautiful and from there, fireworks spread around the world.
We know about gunpowder for 12 centuries now. In that time, it was used for warfare but also for building. In which way it was used we can’t ignore its influence on the world and how it changed it. Read about history of gunpowder.