1. The holiday does not celebrate the signing of the Declaration; it celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress.
2. Only two men signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776 -- John Hancock and Charles Thompson. The majority of signers penned their signatures on August 2, 1776.
3. Congress declared July 4th as an official holiday in 1870 as part of a bill to officially recognize other holidays, Christmas being one of them
4. 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.
5. The average age of those who signed the Declaration of Independence was 45. The youngest at age 27, was Thomas Lynch, Jr of South Carolina. The oldest delegate was Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania at age 70. Thomas Jefferson was 33.
6. An estimated 150 million hot dogs will be consumed on July 4th. (Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island helps with a big chunk of that number) J
7. Our country now boasts 318.9 million citizens, but on the first Fourth of July there were only 2.5 million.
As a reminder, all ICAN office locations will be closed the 4th of July week (July 2-6) and will re-open on Monday July 9th!
We'll also be taking July off from our blog to enjoy some summer activities. I hope you and your family has a wonderful Independence Day holiday and a great summer!
Talk to you again in August!
Erick - ICAN Ankeny and Des Moines Centers
