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Independence Day is a time to celebrate our nation, its founding, and its traditions. With almost 250 years of Fourth of July celebrations to look back on (and 50 years of the Severna Park Independence Day parade), there are many unique traditions as well as interesting history linked to the holiday. Below is a list of interesting Fourth of July facts.
Though the first census wasn’t taken until a few years later, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that only about 2.5 million people lived in the colonies in 1776. Now, over 340 million people live in the nation. Maryland alone has over 6.2 million residents.
John Adams predicted what Independence Day celebrations might look like, writing in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that the nation’s anniversary “will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival.” However, he thought it would be celebrated on July 2, the day the Continental Congress voted for independence.
While the United States declared independence from Britain in 1776, Independence Day wasn’t made an official federal holiday until nearly 100 years later. Congress passed the first federal holiday law during Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency in 1870, giving holiday benefits to federal workers in Washington, D.C. It took nearly 70 more years for Independence Day to become a paid holiday for federal workers across the United States.
The United States isn’t the only country to hold celebrations on July 4. Rwanda’s Liberation Day and the Philippines’ Republic Day, or Philippine-American Friendship Day, are on the same day. Celebrations of the United States’ Independence Day take place elsewhere as well. The Rebild Festival in Denmark is one of the largest Independence Day celebrations outside of the United States.
John Adams died on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the nation. His last words were, “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” He was mistaken, as Jefferson had died that same day, only hours before. One of Jefferson’s last recorded conversations was a discussion with his physicians the night before his passing about it being the Fourth of July. Fifth U.S. president James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831.
In 1850, another president’s death might also have had to do with Independence Day. Zachary Taylor died unexpectedly from a bacterial infection five days after a very hot and humid Fourth of July, only 16 months after taking office. His death was likely caused by his consumption of many cherries, iced milk and several glasses of water on Independence Day.
Only one president has had a July 4 birthday: Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, was born on July 4, 1872. The 150th anniversary of the United States took place during Coolidge’s presidency, on which he delivered a speech in Philadelphia about the Declaration of Independence.
July 4 also marked other historic events in the United States, including the beginning of construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the oldest railroad in the United States. Construction on the railroad began in Baltimore on July 4, 1828. Marylander Charles Carroll, who was the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid the first stone.
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on a “laptop.” Jefferson’s laptop wasn’t a modern laptop of today, but rather a writing desk that sat atop his lap. The Declaration of Independence went through about 86 changes between Jefferson’s original draft and its adoption on July 4, 1776.
The first organized Independence Day celebration took place in Philadelphia in 1777. The celebration was the beginning of the fireworks tradition for Independence Day. The Sons of Liberty set off fireworks over Boston Common that same night. The first public White House Fourth of July event took place in 1801 during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, despite him being the second president to occupy the White House.
Americans eat more hot dogs on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year, averaging over 150 million, which is enough to stretch from one end of the country to the other five times. Though only a small dent in the overall Fourth of July hot dog consumption, participants in Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest eat many hot dogs every July 4. After having to sit out the competition last year due to a conflicting sponsorship deal, hot dog eating record holder Joey Chestnut will return for this year’s contest.
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