With July 4 just around the corner, here are some Independence Day-themed facts to share at your backyard barbecue.
• The Continental Congress voted in favor of declaring independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was officially adopted two days later, marked by the ringing of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It apparently wasn’t signed by everyone until a month later on August 2.
• Every July 4, descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence tap the Liberty Bell 13 times in honor of the original 13 colonies.
• In 1778, General George Washington gave his soldiers a double ration of rum and an artillery salute to celebrate on July 4.
• The first public 4th of July event at the White House took place in 1801 with music, food and horse racing.
• Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe all died on July 4.
• Independence Day became a federal holiday in 1870.
• There have been 27 different official versions of the flag. The last addition was Hawaii’s star after it was added in 1959.
• One World Trade Center in New York City is 1,776 feet tall to mark the year the U.S. declared its independence from Britain.
• The United States is not the only place to celebrate American independence. Such celebrations also occur in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway.
• This year, Americans are expected to spend around $9.5 billion on food alone, and in 2022 revelers spent $2.3 billion on fireworks.
• Americans typically eat 150 million hot dogs on Independence Day, “enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times,” according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.
• About 50 million Americans travel more than 50 miles from home during the holiday weekend, according to WalletHub data from 2023.
• About 16,000 July 4 fireworks displays happen around the country each year, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.
• The famed Macy’s fireworks show in New York City uses more than 75,000 fireworks shells and costs about $6 million.
