seize your oversize American flag - theme MT - shirt and a fistful of sparklers , because it ’s just about time to observe the Fourth of July ! To get you excited about the United States of America ’s natal day , we ’ve set up a list of fascinating and little - know fact about Independence Day .
1. July 4th Should Really Be July 2nd
One of the most abiding myths and misconceptions about Independence Day is that theDeclaration of Independencewas approved and signed on July 4 , 1776 . In fact , the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the resolution to legally separate from Great Britain on July 2,two day in the first place . The sanction Declaration of Independence was firstprintedon July 4 , so that ’s the escort on the written document .
The final " engrossed " Declaration of Independencewasn’t finished for weeks , and the delegate did n’t sign it until Aug. 2 , 1776 . Even then , not all delegates were in attendance , so some signed after . But what about thatfamous John Trumbull paintingof all the delegates signing the Declaration of Independence on July 4 ? That patriotic scene , printed on the back of the $ 2 broadside , took place on June 28 , 1776 , when theFounding Fatherspresented the first rough draft of the written document to the Second Continental Congress .
John Adamswas so worked up about the radical events of July 2 , 1776 , that the very next day hewrote his wifeAbigail that their " Day of Deliverance " from Britain " ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade , with Shews , Games , Sports , Guns , Bells , Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forrader forever and a day more . "
miff by the switch to July 4 , Adams would reportedlyturn down Fourth of July party invitation .
2. Fireworks Flew at the First 4th
Americans wasted no time in celebrating the first Independence Day on July 4 , 1777 , even though the Revolutionary War would n’t be won until 1783 . Taking a discriminative stimulus from John Adams ' call for " balefire and Illuminations , " a wartime Congress adjourned in Philadelphia to light up the Nox withfireworks . like pyrotechnical celebrations were held in Boston .
fit in to thePhiladelphia Evening Post , " The eve was closed with the band of bells , and at night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks ( which began and concluded with thirteen rockets ) on the Commons , and the city was beautifully illuminated … Everything was conducted with the keen social club and decorousness , and the font of delight and gladness was universal . "
In summation to the rockets , which would have been relatively crude in the 18th one C , there were alsoraised platforms with fizzing fireworksthat displayed patriotic images like the profile of George Washington .
3. And Plenty of Gunfire, Too
In addition to pyrotechnic , military cannons and bouncy gunfire were a self-aggrandizing part of early Fourth of July festivities . It ’s important to commend that the United States was at war with Great Britain on and off until 1815 , when America ultimately win the War of 1812 . 4th of July celebrations would have serve asmilitary team spirit - boostersfor tire soldier and citizen .
spike - splitting cannon flack and artillery salutes during Fourth of July persist in into the mid-19th century , when leftover implements of war fell into disrepair and concern for public guard won the day , leaving only the fireworks .
4. The Stars and Stripes Were There for the First Fourth of July
On June 14 , 1777 , less than a month before the very first Independence Day celebration , the Continental Congress passed a resolution creating America ’s first prescribed iris : " Resolved , that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen streak , alternate Bolshevik and ashen ; that the Union be thirteen stars , white on a dismal subject , representing a new configuration . "
Did Betsy Ross stitch the very first American flagunder lodge from George Washington ? Probably not . But since the new flagstone was at least in circulation by June 1777 , then it would likely have made an appearance at those first July 4 celebration in Philadelphia and Boston .
There have been27 dissimilar official versionsof the U.S. flagstone since that first one in 1777 due to the addition of stars for each raw nation . Not coincidently , the current 50 - star iris debut on July 4 , 1960 , after Hawaii became a Department of State in 1959 .
5. Massachusetts Was First to Recognize July 4 as a Holiday
near 90 class before the Fourth of July would be recognized as a federal holiday , the Massachusetts legislaturecalled for an prescribed state celebrationin 1781 to realise " the day of remembrance of the independence of the United States of America . "
It was n’t until 1870that the U.S. Congress voted to make the Fourth of July a Union vacation . And even then , it was n’t made a devote vacation for all federal employees until 1941 .
6. Three U.S. Presidents Have Died on July 4
Incredibly , both Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Founding Father John Adamsdied on the very same day : July 4 , 1826 . That year was the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence .
Jefferson drop dead in Virginia and Adams drop dead in Massachusetts , but the near supporter were n’t far from each other ’s psyche in their final hours . Ironically , rumored to be among Adams ' last Word were " Thomas Jefferson survives . "
In 1831 , just five year after , James Monroe became the third U.S. chairman to die on the Fourth of July . A lamentation nationsaw the mitt of Godin the timing of the deaths . The New York Evening Post wrote :
7. President Zachary Taylor Died After a July Fourth Party
Although he did n’t expire on the Fourth of July itself , President Zachary Taylor died on July 9 , 1850 , after press cholera from eating corrupt fruit during Independence Day celebrations .
summertime in Washington , D.C. is famously hot and muggy . After a long day of festivities in the nation ’s capital , Taylor walked home all the way from the Washington Monument . make it at the White House , Taylor reportedly drank bucket of crank piddle trace by pile of cherries and other clean fruits with iced milk .
Almost immediately , Taylor was beset with hard stomach nuisance and diarrhea that hold up for five days , until he could n’t keep down any fluids . food for thought - borne Indian cholera is believed to have been the culprit . Before his expiry , hecalled for his wifeand separate her not to weep . " I have always done my duty , I am quick to die , " said Taylor . " My only ruefulness is for the friends I leave behind me . "
8. Just One President Was Born on the Fourth of July
Calvin Coolidge is theonly U.S. presidentwho was take over on the Fourth of July . Born on July 4 , 1872 , in diminutive Plymouth Notch , Vermont , Coolidge was serving as vice president when President Warren G. Harding died suddenly on Aug. 3 , 1923 .
Two other celebrated contributors to American culture wereborn on that day too . Stephen Foster , known as the " father of American medicine , " was bear on July 4 , 1826 , the same daylight that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams swag over on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence . Foster is famous for American phratry classics like " Oh ! Susanna " and " Old Folks at Home ( Swanee River ) . "
Nathaniel Hawthorne , generator of " The Scarlet Letter , " was take over on July 4 , 1804 , in Salem , Massachusetts , where his slap-up - with child - grandad played a sinister role in the town ’s infamous witch trials .
More latterly , Malia Obama was born on July 4 , 1998 .
9. NYC Has America’s Biggest Fourth of July Fireworks Display
Of the more than 14,000 public firework spectacles that blow up every twelvemonth on Independence Day , the Macy ’s 4th of July Fireworks Show is believe to be the big . The Macy ’s show , which has been blasting off over New York City ’s East River since 1976 , includesmore than 40,000 fireworksand costs the wearable retailer anestimated $ 6 million .
10. There Are Lots of July Fourth Fireworks Injuries
The Fourth of July is a busy 24-hour interval in America ’s emergency rooms as people get reckless with home fireworks show . In 2021 alone , there were 11,500 fireworks - come to injury treated in U.S. hospital with nine known fatalities , according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission . Of those fireworks injury , 74 percent ( 8,500 ) occurred during the month around July 4th ( between June 18 and July 18 , 2021 ) .
adult male were more likely than women to brook a fireworks - related injury ( 58 percent to 42 per centum ) while kids younger than 15 calculate for 20 pct of all injury . Almost all the trauma were burns of vary degrees of earnestness , most ofttimes to the manus and fingers and also to the principal , nerve and ear .
11. Sousa Was the ‘March King’ of July Fourth
The capital American composer John Philip Sousa wrote 135 MArch in the tardy 19th and early 20th century . Some of his greatest hits were among the first to be recorded and mass - produced as phonograph record book , making Sousa ’s military band one ofthe world ’s first bona fide transcription stars .
Since Fourth of July patriotism has always been bind up with military pridefulness , Sousa ’s marches were the de facto soundtrack of July 4 parades and celebration . His best - roll in the hay Marche include " The Washington Post " ( 1889 ) , " Semper Fidelis " ( 1888 ) , which has become the prescribed march of the U.S. Marines , and the incomparable " The Stars and Stripes Forever " ( 1896 ) .
Despite its soul-stirring military melody , " The Stars and Stripes Forever " was n’t composed on a field of battle or while retrospect uniformed ranks of Marines . Instead , Sousawrote it exclusively in his headon Christmas Day while on a coming back ocean journeying from a vacation in Europe . Sousa ’s longtime friend and manager had exit dead , and he was pelt along home to an timid future .
" As the watercraft ( the Teutonic ) steamed out of the seaport I was pacing on the deck , absorbed in thoughts of my manager ’s expiry and the many duty and decision which wait me in New York,“wrote Sousa in his autobiography .
" The Stars and Stripes Forever " became the prescribed marching music of the United States in 1987 .
12. Sousa Also Inspired a Contemporary Patriotic Anthem
YouTube data shows that Lee Greenwood ’s loyal 1984 song " God Bless the U.S.A. " getsnearly 25 times more views on July 4ththan any other Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of the year .
allot to Greenwood , part of his stirring to spell the song came from none other than Sousa . Greenwood was out to indite an anthem devote to the military ex-serviceman he meet at his concerts .
" The Sousa marches were in the back of my forefront , " Greenwoodtold NPR . " I did a portion of those as drum John Roy Major for my high school march band . And I want some pomp and circumstance . "
The Sung dynasty was a mild success on the res publica charts when it was first released in 1984 , but it really take up to gain adhesive friction during the Gulf War of the early 1990s , when it was bet during troop homecomings and parade . The Sung dynasty soar to new heights of patriotic popularity after the September 11 approach in 2001 and has cemented itself as a Fourth of July staple .
13. Here Comes the Horribles Parade
As one of the cradles of American republic , New England has been celebrate the Fourth of July in its unique fashion for more than two centuries .
For a long fourth dimension , salmon was the traditional July 4 looker since wild Atlantic salmon were in copiousness during the mid - summertime month . Then there was the tradition of theJuly 4 balefire , in which wood cask were piled high up on July 3 and set aflame on midnight to usher in a Modern " year of autonomy . "
While those New England custom have faded in popularity , the curious one is pass firm — the Horribles Parade . Thefirst Horribles Paradewas held on July 4 , 1851 , in Lowell , Massachusetts . It was intended to be a comical send - up of a stuffy military governing body called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts or the " Ancient and Honorables . " The satirical " Antique and Horribles " parade grew into a well-disposed competition to see who could dress in the most outlandish costumes and jab the most fun at local and national figures .
The Horribles custom go on in belittled New England towns likeBeverly Farms , Massachusetts , where citizens amuse each other every Fourth of July with mildly insulting and non - P.C. floats rip from the year ’s most controversial headlines .
14. The Olympics of Competitive Eating
Joey Chestnutis not a formal athlete , but he was the champion of Major League Eating ( an administration that hosts professional eating competitions ) and a longtime achiever ofNathan ’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest , held every Fourth of July in Coney Island , New York .
The Hot Dog Eating Contest is the summit gem of thecompetitive eatingcircuit and is broadcast live on ESPN to 1000000 of queasy viewers . In 2018 , Chestnut limit the world record for most spicy dogs eaten when he gobbled down 76 frankfurters ( and rear end ! ) in 10 minute .
According to legend , thecontest date back to 1916 , when a group of late U.S. immigrant settle a wager about who was the most patriotic by seeing who could eat the most hot firedog at Nathan ’s original Coney Island store . The contest result were n’t formally recorded until 1972 .
