Independence Day is Celebrated on the Fourth of July

Independence Day Historical Facts

• Independence Day started with the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
• The independence of the United States wasn’t official until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783.
• Reference to 4^th of July celebration as Independence Day was first recorded in 1791.
• U.S. Congress makes Independence Day an official federal holiday in 1870.

Saluting the Fourth of July

What began, as the signing of a document has become a long and proud tradition of celebration. This celebration salutes the struggles and triumphs of the greatest nation ever conceived for “every” man.

The first 4^th of July celebration began with 13 guns fired simultaneously the morning of July 4^th, 1777.  A congressional dinner, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews and fireworks followed the 13 gun salute. After 230 years of celebrating Independence Day, little has changed in the way Americans salute the 4^th of July.  Picnics, barbeques, parades, speeches, music, baseball games, fireworks and patriotic displays occur through out the country on this day.

Fireworks have become essential in celebrating Independence Day.  Every town, large or small, has a Fourth of July fireworks display usually accompanied by music. Major 4^th of July fireworks programs with orchestras are held in New York, Boston Harbors and Washington D.C.

Fourth of July: Interesting Facts & Quotes

·        The only two founding fathers (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) who signed the Declaration of Independence and became presidents, died on the same day in 1826: July 4^th the 50^th anniversary of Independence Day.

·        President Calvin Coolidge was born in July 4, 1872.     

·        On July 4^th 1850, President Zachary Taylor laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument.

·        Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.  ~ Thomas Paine

·        You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.  ~Erma Bombeck