Fun Facts About July 4th

At the 50^th anniversary of the declaration of independence’s signing on July 4 1826 Thomas Jefferson 82 and john Adams 90 both passed away within five hours of one another.  They were bitter enemies both had very different political ideologies and their differences often led to conflicts.

Nearly a century after the founding of the country in 1870 July 4 was officially recognized as a federal holiday. The first July 4th celebration was celebrated in Philadelphia following the adoption of the declaration of independence with the first taking place on July 4th 1777 in addition to public readings of the declaration of independence. The fireworks tradition actually stems from this first annual commemoration where multiple ships use their cannons to set off a 13-gun salute. The modern firework display actually started as early as the late 1800s it was at this time that farmers in the Midwest began lighting fires to get rid of grass in their fields.  Today $190 million worth of imported fireworks are from China every year and there are over 14,000 firework displays across the USA. The biggest one is the Macy’s department store display in New York City on average more than 12,000 pounds of gunpowder is used each year. Around 63% of Americans attend a fireworks display and 26% of people attend their own fireworks displays although this is illegal in four states.

The oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States is the 4th of July parade in Bristol Rhode Island. It began in 1785.

80% of Americans go to a cookout or picnic on July 4th and more pounds of meat and pints of beer are sold than any other time of year including Christmas. Along with 155 million sausages there are around 700 million pounds of chicken consumed and 190 million pounds of red meat such as beef patties consumed. 980 million dollars was spent nationwide on beer over the holiday as well as 156 million on potato chips 147 million dollars on ice cream and 16 million dollars on ketchup.

Happy 4th from Flippysox!