8 interesting facts about American Independence Day

Independence Day – the 4th of July – is the most important Holiday in the American calendar. If you had to think about what this day is associated with, what would it be? Let me know in the comments, and I invite you to a few interesting facts related to this Holiday.

Date

Independence Day is celebrated to commemorate the day on which the document called the Declaration of Independence of the United States was signed. It was the declaration of independence of the first 13 colonies, called the founding states, from Great Britain. The day of the Declaration, July 4, 1776, is considered the beginning of the United States. This means that this year the US already is 246 years old. The signing of the Declaration took several weeks and ended in August. Only two signatories signed the declaration on 4 July.

Place

The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently, the building where this groundbreaking event took place, houses a museum and is open to tourists for free; you just need to pick up a free entry ticket in advance. In the same building, the US Constitution was signed in 1787 – the world’s first document of this type.

National Holiday

Independence Day was unofficially celebrated as early as in 1777, a year after the Declaration was announced, but it wasn’t officially recognized as a National Holiday until 1870 – almost 100 years later. And it took another 60 years for this day to become a day off not only for the government officials, but also a paid day off for all employees.

Signatories

The declaration was signed by 56 men from 13 colonies. The average age of all signatories was 45 years, and the oldest of them – Benjamin Franklin (a man educated in many fields, as well as the inventor of, among others, the lightning rod) –  was at that time 70 years old. Two of the signatories, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, later held the office of the President of the United States. Both men had one more thing in common – the date of their death. July 4, 1826.

Population

In 1776, the newly born United States had a population of approximately 2.5 million. Today, the country is inhabited by about 326 million people, which puts the USA in the third position in terms of population in the world.

Flag

With the founding of the country, the national flag was also created. Initially, a flag consisted of 13 white and red stripes and 13 white stars on a blue background. The stars were symbolizing all thirteen colonies that joined the union, and their circular arrangement was to indicate the equality of each of them. Since then, the flag has undergone 26 modifications in the number and arrangement of stars and currently has 50 of them, which is as many as there are states. The last change in the appearance of the flag took place in 1960, when Hawaii joined the United States. This means that the current model is already 57 years old.

Fireworks

Fireworks are the most popular and probably the most associated with America way of celebrating Independence Day. In every major city  fireworks displays are organized in the evening.

Barbecue

Barbecuing is an equally popular way to celebrate Independence Day. It does not matter whether at the home with friends, at a picnic in the park, or at a city festival. Wings, ribs, as well as hot dogs are popular, and it is said 150 million of hot dogs are eaten that day.

On the occasion of Independence Day, we wish everyone a happy celebration. Because in America this is how this holiday is celebrated – among family and friends and with a smile on your face.