July 4 — Independence Day: History, Fun Facts, and Trivia
July 4 Observances
July 4 is Independence Day — the defining American holiday, marked by fireworks, barbecues, parades, and the annual tradition of not reading the Declaration of Independence all the way through. It is also Alice in Wonderland Day (marking Lewis Carroll’s 1862 boat trip that inspired the story), National Barbecue Day, National Barbecued Spareribs Day, National Caesar Salad Day, National Country Music Day, Jackfruit Day, Sidewalk Egg Frying Day, and Indivisible Day. The fact that Sidewalk Egg Frying Day and National Barbecue Day fall on the same date suggests a certain confidence in the weather.
What Happened on July 4?
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence — though it is worth noting that the actual vote for independence happened on July 2, that most delegates did not sign the document until August 2, and that the last signature was added in 1781. Only two people signed on July 4 itself: John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The holiday we celebrate is, technically, the day Congress approved the text of a document announcing a decision made two days earlier, most of whose signatures came six weeks later. None of this makes the fireworks less enjoyable.
It is also worth noting that when Americans refer to their most American holiday, they say “the Fourth of July” — the British date format — rather than “July Fourth,” which is the American format they use for every other date. No one has a satisfying explanation for this.
If you were born on July 4, you were likely conceived the week of October 11 of the prior year.
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson, with edits from Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and the full Congress. Jefferson later complained bitterly about the edits. The document announced that the thirteen American colonies were separating from Great Britain and articulated the philosophical basis for that separation — that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that when a government becomes destructive of the rights it was established to protect, the people have the right to alter or abolish it.
The document was approved on July 4, 1776. July 4 was celebrated as a holiday informally from 1777 onward and was not declared a federal legal holiday until 1941. The name “Independence Day” came into use around 1791.
The term “fireworks” was not established until 1777 — the rockets used before then were simply called rockets. Firecrackers, the noisy variety, came later, and sparklers were introduced in 1880. The tradition of the July 4 fireworks display is therefore older than the word for the fireworks themselves.
Three Presidents Died on July 4
John Adams, the second President of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson, the third, both died on July 4, 1826 — the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The two men had been allies, rivals, estranged friends, and, in their old age, finally reconciled correspondents. Adams’s reported last words were “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” He was wrong; Jefferson had died hours earlier that same morning.
James Monroe, the fifth President, died on July 4, 1831. Three of the first five presidents died on Independence Day, which is either a remarkable coincidence or the kind of thing that makes you wonder what the fourth and fifth of July feel like when you are a president and paying attention.
Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872, making him the only US president born on Independence Day. He was known for speaking as little as possible — a woman at a dinner party once bet him she could get more than two words out of him, to which he replied, “You lose.”
July 4 History Highlights
1054 — Chinese and Arab astronomers observed a supernova near the star Zeta Tauri that was visible in daylight for 23 days and at night for nearly two years. The remnants of that explosion form the Crab Nebula, approximately 6,500 light-years from Earth.
1803 — The Louisiana Purchase was announced publicly on July 4 — a fitting date for the news that the United States had purchased approximately 828,000 square miles of territory from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the country. Napoleon had needed the money. Jefferson had sent negotiators to buy New Orleans and had been offered a continent instead.
1826 — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died, as noted above.
1827 — Slavery was abolished in New York State.
1855 — The first edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass was published — 795 copies, self-financed, with Whitman’s name appearing nowhere on the cover. He sent a copy to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote back immediately calling it “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.” The book has been in print ever since.
1862 — On a boat trip on the River Isis near Oxford, Lewis Carroll told ten-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters a story about a girl who fell down a rabbit hole. Alice asked him to write it down. He did. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865.
1910 — African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocked out Jim Jeffries — billed as “the Great White Hope” — in the 15th round of their heavyweight championship fight in Reno, Nevada. Johnson had held the world heavyweight title since 1908; the bout was staged specifically to find a white challenger who could reclaim it. Johnson won convincingly. Race riots broke out in cities across the United States following the result, killing approximately 26 people. Johnson’s victory was a genuine threat to the racial hierarchy of the era, and the reaction confirmed it.
1939 — Lou Gehrig, the New York Yankees first baseman who had played 2,130 consecutive games before being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, addressed a sold-out Yankee Stadium on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. His speech — “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth” — was delivered by a man who knew he was dying, to 62,000 people who also knew it. He died two years later at age 37.
1946 — The Philippines gained full independence from the United States, 78 years after American forces had arrived following the Spanish-American War.
1966 — President Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, giving citizens the legal right to request access to federal government records.
1971 — Koko, a gorilla who would be taught American Sign Language and who learned to use over 1,000 signs, was born at the San Francisco Zoo. She communicated with researchers for decades and reportedly once described herself as a “fine animal gorilla.” She died in 2018.
1976 — The Clash performed publicly for the first time, at The Black Swan in Sheffield, England, on America’s 200th birthday. The set lasted approximately 20 minutes and was played to a small crowd. The two events are unrelated, but the symmetry is pleasing.
1997 — NASA’s Mars Pathfinder probe landed in the Ares Vallis region of Mars, deploying the Sojourner rover — the first wheeled vehicle to operate on another planet. The mission was celebrated with a NASA press conference, watched live by an estimated 47 million people on the newly mainstream internet.
2004 — The cornerstone of One World Trade Center (then called the Freedom Tower) was laid at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
2012 — Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson — the “God particle” — which had been theorized since 1964 as the mechanism by which particles acquire mass. The date was chosen partly for the symmetry: July 4, the day of a different kind of declaration.
2016 — NASA’s Juno probe arrived at Jupiter after a five-year journey, entering orbit to study the planet’s composition, gravity, and magnetic field. Aboard the spacecraft were three LEGO figurines representing Galileo Galilei, the Roman god Jupiter, and the goddess Juno.
Billboard Number One on July 4
1964: I Get Around — The Beach Boys (July 4–17) — their first number one, built on layered harmonies and the specific geography of Southern California summer
1992: Baby Got Back — Sir Mix-A-Lot (July 4–August 7) — five weeks at number one, an essay in celebration that was briefly banned by MTV before becoming one of the most recognized recordings of the decade
2020: Rockstar — DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch (July 4–August 7)
Born on July 4
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) — American novelist and short story writer whose works — The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, Young Goodman Brown — examined sin, guilt, and the darkness beneath New England’s Puritan heritage with a precision that made him both admired and uncomfortable to read.
Stephen Foster (1826–1864) — American songwriter born on the same day John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died, who wrote Oh! Susanna, Beautiful Dreamer, Camptown Races, and Old Folks at Home (Swanee River) — songs so thoroughly embedded in American musical culture that most people who know them have no idea who wrote them. Foster died in poverty at 37; his estate consisted of 38 cents and a note reading “Dear friends and gentle hearts.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) — The 30th President of the United States and the only president born on Independence Day, known for his minimal speech and maximal silence. He once sat through an entire dinner party without speaking, then explained to his wife afterward that he had made a bet with himself not to say anything and had won. His administration presided over the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties; he left office seven months before the 1929 crash.
Rube Goldberg (1883–1970) — American cartoonist, sculptor, and engineer whose name has become an adjective for unnecessarily complicated machines designed to accomplish simple tasks. His actual Rube Goldberg Machine cartoons were satirical commentary on modern society’s tendency toward over-engineering. The machines depicted in them technically worked, which is more than can be said for most of what they satirized.
Neil Simon (1927–2018) — American playwright whose works — The Odd Couple, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Barefoot in the Park, The Sunshine Boys — made him the most commercially successful playwright in Broadway history. At one point in the 1960s, he had four plays running simultaneously on Broadway. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Lost in Yonkers.
George Steinbrenner (1930–2010) — American businessman and principal owner of the New York Yankees from 1973 to 2010, during which time the team won seven World Series championships and Steinbrenner hired and fired manager Billy Martin five times. He was suspended from baseball twice — once for making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and once for hiring a gambler to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield. He was given the “Boss” nickname by the New York press and apparently enjoyed it.
Bill Withers (1938–2020) — American singer-songwriter who recorded Lean on Me, Ain’t No Sunshine, Use Me, and Just the Two of Us, among others. He worked as an aircraft parts installer at Lockheed until he was 32, before signing his first recording contract. He retired from music in 1985 and spent the following 35 years declining offers to return. He died of heart complications on March 30, 2020.
Post Malone (born 1995) — American singer, rapper, and songwriter born Austin Richard Post, whose recordings Rockstar, Sunflower, and Circles have made him one of the best-selling music artists of his generation. He has more than 60 tattoos on his face, each for a specific reason, and none of which are anyone else’s business.
Also born on July 4, in the fictional universe of Marvel Comics and the MCU: Steve Rogers — Captain America — born July 4, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York. Frozen in 1945. Thawed in 2011. Still technically born on the Fourth of July, which was either a coincidence or extremely on-brand American mythology.
July 4 Quotes
“Where liberty dwells, there is my country.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution.”
— John F. Kennedy
“Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.”
— James Bryce
“Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea.”
— John Gunther
“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
— Bill Clinton
“My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!”
— Thomas Jefferson
“Maturity is the ability to do a job whether you’re supervised or not; finish a job once it’s started; carry money without spending it; and the ability to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.”
— Abigail Van Buren
“Never underestimate the stimulation of eccentricity.”
— Neil Simon
You’re a grand old flag! You’re a high-flying flag,
And forever in peace may you wave.
You’re the emblem of the land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.— George M. Cohan
Random Trivia for July 4
Squirrels will perform elaborate fake nut-burying routines if they suspect they are being watched, creating decoy caches to mislead potential thieves. They remember where their real caches are with approximately 80 percent accuracy. Their strategic deception skills are more sophisticated than those deployed in several historical arms negotiations.
Michael Myers’s mask in Halloween (1978) was a William Shatner Captain Kirk mask purchased from a costume shop for approximately $2, spray-painted white, with the eye holes enlarged and the hair teased. Shatner reportedly found out years later and considered it flattering.
Nolan Bushnell founded both Atari (1972) and Chuck E. Cheese (1977), making him responsible for two of the most significant quarter-consuming enterprises in American leisure history.
The original military-grade M-80 firecracker contained approximately 3,000 mg of powder. The commercially available versions for civilians contain 50 mg — about one-sixtieth as much. The gap between what Americans want their fireworks to do and what their fireworks are legally permitted to do has been a recurring tension in Fourth of July planning since approximately 1777.
For most of his reign, the official title of King George III — the monarch Americans were declaring independence from — was “George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and so forth.” He had technically been King of France since 1340, when Edward III asserted the claim, despite never having governed an acre of it. The “and so forth” is doing considerable work in that title.
Literacy rates in colonial New England were approximately 85 percent for men on the eve of the American Revolution — higher than anywhere else in the world at the time, and higher than in some countries today.
The word “o’clock” traces to the Middle English phrase “of the clokke,” meaning “of the clock” — used to distinguish mechanical clock time from sundial time during the period when both were in common use and produced slightly different readings depending on the day and latitude.
It is illegal to use the American flag as a trademark under the Flag Code, though the Code is largely unenforced and its provisions have been contested on First Amendment grounds. The flag appears on a very large number of products regardless.