I hope you’re enjoying your family and friends, delicious food, great weather and good health today. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Some fun facts about July 4th gathered from parade.com.
1.. The Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4, 1776. That’s actually the day it was formally adopted by the Continental Congress, but it wasn’t signed by most signatories until August.
2. John Hancock has the largest signature on the Declaration of Independence.
3. Three presidents have died on July 4: Thomas Jefferson (4th president), John Adams (3rd president), and James Monroe (5th president).
4. John Adams (note: the 2nd president of the US) believed that American independence should be celebrated on July 2, as that’s the actual day the Continental Congress voted for independence in 1776. Annoyed that Independence Day wasn’t celebrated on July 2, Adams reportedly turned down invitations to July 4 celebrations throughout his life.
5. Starting in 1818, new stars and stripes were added to the American flag each July 4 to make the creation of new states.
6.. The first July 4 celebration took place at the White House in 1801, hosted by Thomas Jefferson (note: the 3rd president of the US).
7. Independence Day became a federal holiday in 1870.
8. Every July 4, descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence tap the Liberty Bell 13 times in honor of the original 13 colonies.
9. One World Trade Center in New York is 1,776 feet tall to mark the year the U.S. declared its independence from Britain.
Two last facts:
10. The Declaration of Independence, along with the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, are permanently housed and displayed in the National Archives. Should there a nuclear strike, a zombie apocalypse or a BTS concert in the Archives (heaven forbid!), these documents can be stored in a vault located inside the Archives or evacuated to a secret facility.
11. The first two lines of the Declaration:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Happy Independence Day @pkml3 and all who celebrate it!! I was just going to come over to wish you, and found the thread up. 🙂
May your 🎉🎊 celebrations be joyful and peaceful 🎉🎊, may greater unity amidst diversity be the ideal more and more work towards and God bless America. 🙏
Happy 4th of July Queen and to everyone who celebrates it! 🥳🥳🥳
I wish I can pig out too but all good! 😁
Happy 4th of July @Packmule3 and to everyone who celebrates it!
Have a great day ahead!
Happy 4th of July @packmule3!
Happy 4th of July celebrations @Packmule3 and to all enjoying the feasting etc!
I was born in the US, in Pittsburgh, PA, so I feel can join in with you just as you kindly joined in with the Jubilee Celebrations!
I do miss the celebrations on the 4th, especially the competing fireworks in Seattle.
@packmule3, I hope that you have a good day off. How nice that it’s a Monday this year! is it barbeque weather where you live?
Happy 4th to all who celebrate it. Thunderstorms in the forecast all day here; lots of picnics and fireworks may be rained out. Ah well.
Happy July 4th from Taipei! Thankful for the United States, its values, and freedom and democracy.
Yes, every country has its own set of problems, but at least people can talk freely about them in the United States. 🙂
Happy 4th to you and your family @QueenBee….. and all who celebrate it.
Thankful to be living in a democratic USA, than anywhere else, where laws are followed (to a certain extent), and there is freedom of speech, has the capability to protect residents from attacks from others.
Happy 4th of July!
To life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (not only for oneself but also for others)!!!
Happy 4th of July!!! Cheers @PM3 and those who celebrate it!!!
Fun fact: Philippines used to celebrate the country’s Independence Day on July 4 as well since in July 4, 1946, US formally recognized the Republic of the Philippines and ended its occupation during WW2. Then the date was move to June 12 which was the independence from Spanish rule and July 4 was renamed as Philippine American Friendship day.
Happy 4th of July to all who celebrate it!
It’s Youth day on my side of the world so the kids get a day off from school
Not only did Adams (#2) and Jefferson (#3, and Vice President for #2) both die on July 4, they died within five hours of each other on the same day, 04 July 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Continental Congress’s adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Adams would have been annoyed, because he staunchly believed Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2, when the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence. The document we know as the Declaration of Independence went through two days of revision before the vote to ratify the text. (The hand-written copy on parchment with 56 signatures wasn’t completed until August 2, 1776. The night of 04 July 1776, between 150-200 poster-sized copies–the Dunlap Broadside–were printed by order of Congress and and sent to assemblies, conventions, committees, and the commanders of Continental troops.)
In the last letter Jefferson penned before his death, written 24 June 1826, he wrote, “…for ourselves let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.” The rights to which he refers are “…the blessings and security of self-government…the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason, and freedom of opinion.”
My celebration will include going tonight to a symphony concert in an outdoor venue. The first half of the program will be patriotic music. The second half? The music of Queen. Ironic, much? But I’m not complaining. I’m planning to sing along…”I see a little silhouetto of a man…”
@packmule3, Thank you for reminding us Americans of the reasons we celebrate. I am glad to be a citizen of this country and hope that our great experiment continues to give us a more perfect union. I think history shows us the many crises our nation has endured. However, we still are a light to the nations.
Happy 4th to those who celebrate it! 🎉
Dear American Friends, Happy 4th of July!!!, might Freedom always shine through!!!.
There is nothing more sobering about values like Freedom, Respect and Trust than living in a place were those values does not exist and being able to compare.
BTW, it is possible that I will be disconnected for a short while so please don’t be alarmed.
Love you all,
FGB
Happy 4th, @PM3
Thanks for the fun facts.
But yes, thankful for AMerica… arrived in LA in 1984. Became a citizen 10 years later. I’ll never forget it. Did the interview and oath taking in Seattle.
Even though our celebration is low-key… and simple (no BBQ, no fireworks, no crowds – just chillax mode) but God is good ~ God bless AMerica!
Happy Birthday, America! Here’s to many more!
@HK_Lady, my father-in-law, like you, treasured his citizenship. He lived most of his adult life in India, but since he was from China, he did not receive Indian citizenship even though he’d been in the country long before it became an independent nation. My mother-in-law was born in India before independence, but because her parents were from China she did not receive citizenship. Their three oldest children were born in India, but since their births were before January 1950, Indian law didn’t recognize them as citizens. My mother-in-law and the three oldest children were considered British subjects, but that was different than their being British nationals. My father-in-law was a stateless person most of his life, until becoming a U.S. citizen.
One funny story: when my father-in-law was studying for his citizenship test, the U.S. president was George H. W. Bush, and the governor of California was George Deukmejian. Of course my FIL also had to learn some U.S. history, so George Washington was another name he memorized. I recall his saying, “Too many Georges!”
@Welmaris, The story of your inlaws was so inspiring.Too many Georges was so true. I bet your FIL is a great citizen. So many countries make the path to citizenship impossible. I do appreciate the U S A. I have my grandparents’ citizenship papers. They were so proud of that accomplishment coming from countries, where had they stayed they would have been killed. I hope our dreamers finally get that chance.
@OAL, my FIL has been gone for many years. Our best estimate, since he didn’t have a birth certificate, is that he was born around 1910. He spent the last years of his life mostly in Hawaii with one daughter, traveling from time to time to visit children in California, Canada, and England. Crossing international borders had been very difficult for him prior to his getting a U.S. passport. Before his immigration and U.S. citizenship, when he wanted to travel outside India he had to jump through hoops to get entry visas and a NORI (No Objection to Return to India).