An annual summer staple in the United States — on par with popsicles and unfortunate sunburns — are fireworks. In the days leading up to the Fourth of July, fireworks can often be heard echoing throughout urban neighborhoods around the country. However, in the last few weeks, those echoes have become roars, with fireworks having become an unexpected all-night occurrence, spanning cities from New York to Los Angeles to Chicago, and starting at dusk and going into the early hours of the morning. In a time when tensions are running high, both because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and weeks of protests against systemic racism and police brutality, the proliferation of fireworks has left many people searching the Internet for answers.