I keep hearing that the 4th of July is a celebration commemorating the United States of America proclaiming its independence from Great Britain through the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Here are a few ironic fun facts about this:
- The first Independence Day celebration wasn’t held until 20 years later in 1796.
- While proclaiming independence from Great Britain, the authors of the Declaration of Independence were writing things like, and I paraphrase here, that all men are created equal with unalienable rights among which are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness despite the fact that women didn’t get suffrage nationwide until 1920 and one of the authors Robert Livingston was a representative of New York and slavery wasn’t abolished in NY until 1827.
- The American Revolution was still being fought until 1783
Other noteworthy events for the United States that have taken place on July 4th include:
- 1803 The Louisiana Purchase is announced
- 1831 “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)” is 1st sung in Boston
- 1836 Wisconsin Territory forms
- 1846 Texas votes for annexation to United States
- 1863 Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho)
- 1863 General Lee’s army withdrew from Gettysburg
- 1863 Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Union forces
- 1881 Booker T. Washington established the Tuskegee Institute
- 1884 Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris
- 1959 America’s new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled
- 1960 America’s new 50-star flag honoring Hawaiian statehood unfurled
Other events that took place on July 4th that don’t call for sparkler celebrations:
- 1779 Occupation of Greneda by French troops
- 1810 Occupation of Amsterdam by French troops
- 1866 Firecracker thrown in woods starts fire destroying half of Portland, Maine
- 1898 French liner “La Bourgogne” collides with bark Cromartyshire & 560 die
- 1925 Dreyfus Hotel in Boston collapses, 44 die
- 1940 British destroy French battle fleet at Oran, Algeria, 1267 die
- 1969 Ohio Fireworks kill 18 and destroy over 100 boats on Lake Erie
- 1970 100 injured in race rioting in Asbury Park NJ
- 1988 US Navy shoots down Iranian civilian jetliner over Gulf, kills 290
- 1989 14 year old Drew Barrymore attempts suicide (thankfully she didn’t succeed)
- 1990 400 NKOTB fans treated for heat exhaustion (wonder if they’re trying to go to any NKOTB cruises as adults now)
- 2003 Kobe Bryant is arrested for sexual assault (scumbag)
- 2013 12 people are killed and 60 are injured in a wave of shootings across Chicago (this has become so common now in our country, don’t we have like 1-2 of these a month now?)
Just some food for thought to keep in mind today as you enjoy sparklers, illegal fireworks that freak out my dog, beer, cancer causing hot dogs and sugar laden ice creams contributing to this country’s obesity problem (I just watched the documentary Sugar Coated.)
I was listening to Country music while composing this message. David Nail’s “Whatever She’s Got” to be exact because I’m patriotic. #America
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