Then a friend of William of Rubruck, Roger Bacon, gave the first account of gunpowder and its use in fireworks to be written in Europe. A form of gunpowder had been known in China since before AD 900, and as mentioned earlier...Much of this knowledge had reached the Islamic countries by then, and the saltpetre used in making gunpowder there was sometimes referred to, significantly, as 'Chinese snow'. ↑ Original from the University of MichiganThe people's cyclopedia of universal knowledge with numerous appendixes invaluable for reference in all departments of industrial life... Volume 2 of The People's Cyclopedia of Universal Knowledge with Numerous Appendixes Invaluable for Reference in All Departments of Industrial Life.