Catherine wheel (firework)
Encyclopedia
The Catherine wheel is a type of firework consisting of a powder-filled spiral tube, or an angled rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

 mounted with a pin through its centre. When ignited, it rotates quickly, producing a display of sparks and coloured flame.

The firework is named after the instrument
Breaking wheel
The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death...

 of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

 on which, according to legend, St. Catherine
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...

 was to have been martyred, but which miraculously flew into pieces when she touched it.

In Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, Catherine wheels are very popular, and in Maltese, they call them "Irdieden". The most known place for Catherine wheels is Haz-Zebbug
Zebbug, Malta
Ħaż-Żebbuġ or Città Rohan is one of the oldest towns in Malta. Its population is 12,892 as of 2010 making it the 12th largest town in Malta.-History and origins:...

, where they fill a whole road with them, from small wheels to large, complex gear work. Different types of wheels – including "timed," "gearwork," and "simple" – last for different durations. Malta also holds the record for the biggest ever working Catherine wheel. The wheel was fired in Mqabba on the 18th of June 2011 and was 105 ft in diameter.

One type of Catherine wheel arrangement is the 'five-wheel piece', which consists of four wheels placed in a form of a cross, and one in the middle. Another type is the 'star piece', which is usually big (4 metres in diameter) and 8 or 10 shaped diamonds rotate on a base, which create an opening and closing star effect.
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