In America, the Fourth of July is the epitome of summer. The smell of hamburgers on the grill, the sound of children playing in the pool, and the taste of watermelon is what every American looks forward to in the summer. While all of these things are amazing, lets take it back to 1776, when the United States of America became the land of the free and the home of the brave. Here are some fun facts about the Fourth of July, aka Independence Day.
Only two Founding Fathers actually signed their names on the Declaration of Independence July 4.
John Hancock and Charles Thompson are the only two that actually signed the document on July 4. The rest of the founding fathers signed the document on August 2, 1776. The average age of the founding father's who signed the document was 45. The youngest person to sign was a man named Thomas Lynch, Jr who was 27 years old. The oldest to sign was Benjamin Franklin, who was 70 years old.
Independence Day became a holiday in 1870.
As a part of a bill to declare other holidays, like Christmas, Independence Day became an official holiday.
Every country has a "Fourth of July," but some countries celebrate like we do in order to bring in American tourists.
Countries such as Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden celebrate American Independence Day just like we do in the states. This is because in the early 1900s thousands of immigrants from these countries came to America. These countries celebrate Independence Day out of the respect of America welcoming theses immigrants into the melting pot.
On the first "Fourth of July" there were only 2.5 million citizens in America.
In 1776 the population of America was 2.5 million. In 2011, the population in America was 311.7 citizens.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th.
James Monroe also died on July 4, making that a total of three Presidents to die on Independence Day. However, Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872.
The "Star Spangled Banner" was originally written as a poem and later put to music.
In 1931 it officially became our National Anthem. And the original tune of the National Anthem is to an English drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven".
July 2nd is the real Independence Day.
July 2 was the day that Congress actually decided to cut all ties with Great Britain. But since the document was not oficially signed until July 4, that is why Independence Day falls on this day instead.
The original draft of the Declaration got lost.
The original copy written by Thomas Jefferson got lost, so the "engrossed" document was the one that actually got signed.
About 150 million hot dogs are eaten every year on the Fourth of July.
