Last night was sticky, humid, and disgusting. But even though the summer heat continued into darkness, it paid off for the masses who crowded the National Mall and other vantage points around D.C. to watch the National Park Service’s annual fireworks display. For 17 minutes—officially, that is—the skies over the scaffolding-clad Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Tidal Basin filled with exploding doses of gunpowder, magnesium, lithium, barium, and copper to light up the night.

The Macy’s sponsored “Fireworks Extravaganza” in New York City might be the nation’s largest display, with some 40,000 rockets, but as far as backdrops go, Jersey City has got nothing on D.C.’s skyline.