10 Fascinating 4th of July Facts
As you prepare for this holiday weekend, enjoy some 4th of July trivia!
- Contrary to popular belief, America did NOT declare its independence from Great Britain on July 4th. The actual vote took place on July 2nd. July 4th was the date when the newspapers PUBLISHED the Declaration of Independence. AND it was SIGNED on August 2nd.
- John Adams thought that July 2nd would reside in the hearts of all Americans as the birthday of our country, whereas Thomas Jefferson believed it to be July 4th. This was the least of their many disagreements. Interestingly, both of them died on the 50th Anniversary of the 4th of July–five hours apart.
- Only two of the 56 signers signed the Declaration on the 4th of July–John Hancock and Charles Thompson. The date it was signed by most was August 2, 1776.
- The average age of the signers was 45 years old–Edward Rutledge was the youngest (26 years old) and Benjamin Franklin was the oldest (70 years old).
- Of the 56 men that signed the Declaration of Independence, only one recanted–Richard Stockton. He was caught and abused by the British. After he recanted and was released, he found much of his property destroyed/stolen. His library, which was one of the nicest in the colonies, was burned to the ground.
- The Declaration of Independence was written on a laptop?! Yep, while this is NOT the laptop that you are thinking about, Thomas Jefferson wrote up the Declaration on a writing desk that could fit over your lap–it was referred to at that time as a “laptop.”
- The tradition of fireworks dates back to the FIRST anniversary of Independence Day–July 4, 1777.
- There is writing on the back of the Declaration…BUT it’s not a map written in invisible ink (National Treasure). It simply reads “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776.” Historians assume that it was used as a label back then since parchments were normally rolled up when they were transported from one place to another.
- On the second anniversary of the 4th of July, George Washington ordered that his men be rationed twice the amount of rum they normally received.
- The United States’ flag with 50 stars was designed by a 16-year-old. For a school project in 1958 (Hawaii and Alaska were about to become states), Robert G. Heft took the 48-star flag, and with some blue cloth and white iron-on material, he stitched together his design of 50 stars. He received a B on his project. Out of thousands of flag designs sent to Washington, D.C., his was the only one that was stitched together. After it was selected to become the national flag, his grade was rightly changed to an A. He has even designed a 51-star flag in case another state is added to the union!
If you enjoyed these interesting facts, try out this Trivia Quiz about the 4th of July!
Also, check out how our Teams celebrated it last year!
This post’s material was pulled from Tim Brunicardi’s article, “15 Fun Facts About the Fourth of July.”
