July 4th 2009...
"The [fourth] day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more." -- John Adams
One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth. Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.
* Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.
* Since 1912, the Rebild Society, a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a July 4th weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans in the Rebild section of Denmark.
* Since 1916, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.
* Since 1959, the International Freedom Festival is jointly held in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario during the last week of June each year as a mutual celebration of Independence Day and Canada Day (July 1). It culminates in a large fireworks display over the Detroit River.
* Since 1959, NASCAR holds the Coke Zero 400 (formerly the "Firecracker 400") on the Fourth.
* The famous Macy's fireworks display over the East River in New York City has been televised nationwide on NBC since 1976.
* Since 1973, the Boston Pops Orchestra hosts a music and fireworks show over the Charles River Esplanade. In recent years it too is televised nationwide as "Pops Goes the Fourth."
* On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., "A Capitol Fourth," a free concert, precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.
--- --- Walt Schmidt Veteran Services Officer
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Ken Sun - Weekly Column: http://experts.longisland.com/veterans
"To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty."
- Lao-Tzu 71:1
