The company set to light the sky over the Strip on New Year’s Eve has been creating pyrotechnic spectacles since the 1850s. Fireworks by Grucci, a Long Island-based leader in the industry, has a history of producing themed fireworks extravaganzas in Las Vegas, but it also has created bang and brilliance at 8 U.S. presidential inaugurations, the Olympic Games and World Fairs, and also is a Guinness World Records holder for the largest fireworks display in multiple cities.

The company’s history in the U.S. dates to when Angelo Lanzetta, founder and great-grandfather to Felix Grucci Sr., left southern Italy in 1870 for Elmont, New York, on Long Island. According to the company’s website, Lanzetta ran the business until his death in 1899, and then his son, Anthony Lanzetta, took over. In 1923, Anthony Lanzetta brought in nephew Felix Grucci Sr. to serve as an apprentice.