This coming Friday will mark the 249th birthday of our nation, and as has been the theme for so many years past, it will be filled with many celebrations, marked by parades, patriotic music, and specially designed baseball caps worn by MLB and Milb players and umpires. Bands will be playing, grills will be fired up, many with boats will be out on local lakes, maybe a Great Lake, some coastal residents might be on a sea or an ocean, and the celebrations will continue until after dark as many will enjoy displays of fireworks, flares, and sparklers booming and lighting the skies, accompanied by Sousa marches, Songs of the Flag, and/or Hymns and Songs honoring America.

We celebrate the Fourth of July with such spirit and gusto, but many aren’t even aware that the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4th, was not signed by the first delegates until August 2, 1776. (I’m sure many are glad we celebrate the Fourth of July, as the Second of August, just doesn’t have the same ring to it when uttered or shouted.)

There are many facts that surround the Fourth of July that many people may, or may not, know, so the VFTB did a little research and found some things that he found a bit interesting and wanted to share them with today’s readers.

Did you Know:

– The Liberty Bell rings 13 times every Fourth of July to honor the thirteen colonies?

– Only one President was ever born on the Fourth of July (Calvin Coolidge in 1872)

– Three Presidents died on the Fourth of July [(John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both on the same date and day, just hours apart in 1826), and James Monroe (1831.)]

– The first public Fourth of July event occurred at the White House in 1801 while Jefferson was in office.

– Inscribed on the tablet held by Lady Liberty is July IV, MDCCLXXVI

– Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag in May or June of 1776, after a secret committee from the Continental Congress met with her.

– The stars on the original American flag represented the 13 original colonies, and were arranged in a circle so the colonies would appear equal.

– There were a total of 86 changes made to the original draft of the Declaration of Independence before the Continental Congress officially adopted the final version on July 4, 1776.

– On July 5, 1776, copies of the Declaration of Independence were handed out and on July 6th. The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to print the document.

– The Liberty Bell rang from the tower of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776, and citizens gathered for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

– Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the national bird but was overruled by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who wanted the bald eagle.

– The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence did not all sign at the same time, or on the same day, as many of the delegates traveled by horse, and most would arrive at different times on different days. It took circa six months before all the delegates had signed the document.

– The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers, because if independence had not been adopted, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, led to their deaths.

– The song “Yankee Doodle,” was sung originally by British officers making fun of backwoods Americans.

– In 1776, there were 2.5 million people living in the new nation. Today there are over 334 million.

– There are more than 30 towns nationwide that have the word “Liberty” in their names.

– Approximately 150 million hotdogs are consumed on the Fourth of July.

– According to recent data, around 2.4 billion dollars will be spent by consumers for fireworks on the Fourth of July.

(Courtesy of National Archives (.gov)

The National archives have these, and so many more facts and figures compiled on their shelves, some serious, some comical, but many more, having to do with, not the 2nd of August, but the 4th of July which we will celebrate this Friday.

Please remember to celebrate safely, smartly, and patriotically. Happy Birthday, and God Bless, America!