Fun Facts Friday: Independence Day

July 4th is known as America’s Independence day, we celebrate by going to parades, barbecues and fireworks, however not many people realize the interesting history behind this day.

1) The first celebration of Independence Day took place on 8 July, 1776 in Philadelphia, PA. This was also when the Declaration of Independence was first read in public
2) The second President, John Adams, and the third President, Thomas Jefferson, both died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. They are also the only two Presidents to sign.
3) John Hancock was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Everyone else signed it later.
4) The Star Spangled Banner is sung to the tune of a son called To Anacreon in Heaven, an old English drinking song.
5) Congress actually ruled in favor of independence on 2, July – not on the fourth.
6) The Liberty Bell has not been rung since 1846 (it is tapped 13 times every July 4th).
7) The 4th of July became a national holiday in 1941.
8) One out of eight signers of the Declaration of Independence were educated at Harvard, four at William and Mary, Yale and Princeton.
9) Signing the declaration was an act of treason. When John Hancock said that Congress must “all hang together”, Benjamin Franklin replied: “Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately”
10) When the first Independence Day was celebrated there were 2.5 million people in the U.S., now there are about 314 million.

Zohar – Man of la Book