Happy Fourth of July

The Declaration of Independence was a justification for a revolt against the British which included a list of charges against the British king. The Fourth of July commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It was initially adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776, but then it was revised, and the final version was adopted two days later.
The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men representing the 13 colonies. The moment marked the beginning of all-out war against the British. The American Revolutionary War is said to have started in 1775, however. The Declaration was signed more than two years after Boston officials refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, fueling colonists to dump the tea into the harbor in what became the infamous Boston Tea Party.
Several countries have used the Declaration of Independence as a beacon in their own struggles for freedom. These countries include France, Greece, Poland, Russia, and many countries in South America.
America isn’t the only nation that celebrates the Fourth of July. It might sound odd, but if you celebrate the Fourth of July outside the U.S., you still might see fireworks in Denmark, England, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. This is because thousands of people emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s. Some European celebrations on the Fourth take place near tourist destinations -- to attract U.S. travelers -- or near American military bases.
Most of the Founding Fathers agreed that July Fourth is the correct day to celebrate America’s independence from Great Britain -- except one. Adams thought July 2, the day the Second Continental Congress voted in Philadelphia to declare independence from Britain, would be the day patriots celebrated. “The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America,” Adams wrote on July 3. “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
Americans were observing and celebrating July Fourth as early as 1777, however, the holiday was not nationally recognized. The first major celebration occurred in Philadelphia, which included a parade, a thirteen-shot cannon salute, and fireworks. Americans celebrated the holiday year after year and Congress officially recognized July Fourth as a holiday in 1870. July Fourth gained its federal recognition from a bill that passed and recognized major state holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Day on a federal level.

Fun facts:
Today, the 4th of July is America’s drunkest holiday (with over $1 billion spent on beer every year and over half a million on wine), but the tradition goes back pretty far. Soldiers in the Continental Army were given extra allowances of rum to celebrate Independence Day.

The oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States is the 4th of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island; it began in 1785.

The "Star Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key and was originally a poem stemming from his observations in 1814 concerning the British attack on Baltimore's Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It was later put to music, though not decreed the official national anthem until 1931.

The 4th of July is the biggest day of the year for hot dogs. More hot dogs are eaten on this day than any other day of the year. Estimates place the number of dogs eaten on this date at 155 million, or enough to stretch across the American nation more than 5 times over. We wonder what percentage of those 155 million hot dogs are consumed during the annual hot dog eating contests usually held over the 4th of July?

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