Independence Day (United States)
- America's Freedom Festival at Provo, in Utah, is one of the largest freedom festivals. It includes one of the largest Fourth of July parades, and the Stadium of Fire.
- Every year in the U.S.A., the Rainbow Family gather for prayer for World Peace. With attendance ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 or more participants, most refer to it as Interdependance Day as all live in primitive conditions by choice, in State Forests and rely upon one another for the first week of July. Participants on the Fourth of July pray, meditate, or are silent on the morning of the Fourth of July, ending in a verbal group expression, Aum or Om. The Rainbow Gathering takes place annually for the first week of July.
- The Midwest's largest fireworks display, called "Red, White and Boom", happens on the last weekday before the 4th of July in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. An estimated crowd of 500,000 to 750,000 attend and thousands more people view the fireworks display in HD on NBC Columbus, which is synchronized to music by 97.9 WNCI.
- The town of Bristol, Rhode Island, is noted for having the oldest, continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States (since 1785).
- James River Assembly in Ozark, Missouri, hosts the annual "I Love America" Celebration at the Springfield Underground. In 1997, 13,000 people showed up for the first event. In 2006, 120,000 people attended the celebration. Highlights include the choir’s "Living Flag", the "Concert in the Sky", nearly 100 games and activities, and a four-hour air show.
- A colorful Independence Day event is the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, which supposedly started on July 4, 1916 as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic. It was estimated that Americans would consume about 150 million hot dogs on July 4, 2006, or almost one hot dog for every other person in the United States.
- New York City also hosts the famous Macy's Fireworks Display over the East River televised nationwide.
- In Boston, a fireworks show is held over the Boston Common with the Boston Pops playing in the background. In recent years it too is televised nationwide.
- Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball games are also played on Independence Day. Since 1959, NASCAR has held the Pepsi 400 on July 4 or the Saturday of Independence Day weekend.
- On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., a free concert, "A Capitol Fourth", precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.
- In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the U.S., 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, though he did not sign the Declaration of Independence.
- In 2006, the first Space Shuttle launch on Independence Day occurred at 2:37:55 EDT for mission STS-121 using the Space Shuttle Discovery.
- Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, was born on July 4, 1873.
[
See also
- United States Declaration of Independence
- Founding Fathers of the United States
- The legality of state separation through a declaration of independence.
- 1776 (musical)
- Constitution Day (United States)
In Boston, a fireworks show is held over the Charles River Esplanade with the Boston Pops playing in the background
[
References
- ^ Fourth of July Celebrations Database. Retrieved on 2007-06-04.
[
External links
- U.S. State Department on Independence Day
- An extensive history of Independence Day by James R. Heintze, American University, Washington, D.C.
- The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass
|
|||||
For more information review our copyright contact and privacy policy.