A woman walks up a stairway painted in the rainbow colors in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, July 11, 2020. Romania reported 698 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, the highest level since the pandemic reached the country in February. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

A woman walks up a stairway painted in the rainbow colors in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, July 11, 2020. Romania reported 698 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, the highest level since the pandemic reached the country in February. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

An old American car is seen in Havana as a rainbow appears in the sky, on February 3, 2022. The Cuban government on Thursday “emphatically and forcefully” demanded the end of the U.S. embargo on the island, which was reinforced “to unsuspected limits” amid the covid-19 pandemic, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)

A person waving the rainbow flag runs on the pitch as the players line up for the national anthems the UEFA EURO 2020 Group F football match between Germany and Hungary at the Allianz Arena in Munich on June 23, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Pool via AFP Photo)

Spectators, young and old and of all colors of the rainbow, lined the canals in the Dutch capital to watch the colorful spectacle of the Pride Canal Parade return for the 25th edition after the last two events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, August 6, 2022. (Photo by Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

An Indian Hindu devotee pours milk on a snake as an offering during the annual Nag Panchami festival, dedicated to the worship of snakes outside the Nagvasuki temple, in Allahabad, on July 28, 2017. Officially the snake charmers' profession is banned in India, but many in the country offered prayers and milk blessings to cobras and other deadly serpents on July 28 in an annual tribute. The 800,000 charmers and their young apprentices come to the fore for the Nag Panchami festival which dates back several centuries. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

If we were to burn NH4Cr2O7 with HgSCN in the Dark Ages in Europe and show it to anyone, it is us who would be burning next on a fiery cross of Inquisition. And it’s no wonder, since this experiment produces a truly marvelous result. At first, as you ignite the mixture of NH4Cr2O7 and HgSCN, all you can see is that it is slowly burning with a reddish flame. After a while, however, a crater is formed in the middle of the burning pile, and then, suddenly, tentacle-like appendages start sprouting from the burning mixture. And you can almost hear the scream of the mad occultist – “Come forth, Kraken! Come forth!” But of course, this is simply a chemical reaction that is called the "Pharoah's Serpent". It was also often sold in firework stores until people realized that it was toxic.

People gather beneath rainbow lights following Cinespia’s screening of “The Wizard of Oz” at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, presented by Amazon Studios & Prime Video, on July 31, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Summer screenings have returned to the iconic cemetery after a hiatus amid the pandemic last summer. Actress Judy Garland is laid to rest at the cemetery where many movie legends are buried. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)