Hai All,
Evnthough I am originally from Canada, I really like my adopted country, the USA too. So I wanted to say:
Here are some fun facts about Independence Day you may or may not know:
1) The major objection to being ruled by Britain was taxation without representation. The colonists had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.
2) In May, 1776, after nearly a year of trying to resolve their differences with England, the colonies sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Finally, in June, admitting that their efforts were hopeless; a committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of Independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. On June 28, 1776, Thomas Jefferson presented the first draft of the declaration to Congress.
3) Betsy Ross, according to legend, sewed the first American flag in May or June 1776, as commissioned by the Congressional Committee.
4) Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
5) The Liberty Bell sounded from the tower of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776, summoning citizens to gather for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.
6) June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress, looking to promote national pride and unity, adopted the national flag. “Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” This day became "Flag Day".
7) The word ‘patriotism’ comes from the Latin patria, which means ‘homeland’ or ‘fatherland.’
8) The first public Fourth of July event at the White House occurred in 1804.
9) Before cars ruled the roadway, the Fourth of July was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by all the noise and by the boys and girls who threw firecrackers at them.
10) The first Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi occurred at Independence Creek and was celebrated by Lewis and Clark in 1805.
11)On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington, D.C., to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter that Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote.
12) Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826.
13) The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence did not sign at the same time, nor did they sign on July 4, 1776. The official event occurred on August 2, 1776, when 50 men signed it.
14) The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
15) Four of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were from South Carolina; Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr, Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge.
16) Thomas McKean was the last to sign in January, 1777.
17) In 1941, Congress declared 4th of July a federal legal holiday. It is one of the few federal holidays that has not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday.
