Fun and Frivolous Friday – Fun Facts for the Fourth

Posted: July 1, 2016  

Happy 2nd of July!?

Author Kenneth C. Davis has revealed that the 2nd of July may actually be the more appropriate date to mark the nation’s special day. “The fact is that John Adams wrote home to Abigail on the 3rd that this day, July 2nd will go down in history,” Davis said during an appearance on “CBS This Morning.” “We’ll celebrate it with parades and pomp and bells ringing and fireworks, and it was because Congress actually ruled it in favor of independence on July 2. But it was two days later, of course, that Congress then accepted Jefferson’s declaration, explaining the vote two days before that really got fixed in the America’s imagination as our birthday. July 2nd should be Independence Day.”

Holiday, Shmoliday

“Americans began observing the Fourth of July as early as 1777, when the first-ever major celebration in Philadelphia included a parade, a thirteen-shot cannon salute and fireworks, but Congress didn’t make it official until 1870, when it was part of a bill passed to recognize major state holidays at a federal level — like Independence Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day,” according to TIME magazine.

R.I.P Founding Fathers

In a bizarre, though perhaps apt, twist of fate, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826. “The publication of the Declaration of Independence may have accidentally made the Fourth of July the official day of independence for America, but the deaths of two of its founders cemented its creation of the date’s designation,” wrote the FW’s Danny Gallagher.

Hot Dogs Galore

July Fourth is the “biggest hot dog holiday of the year,” according to TIME magazine, with Americans reportedly consuming about 155 million of them on Independence Day alone. But despite a nationwide love for the salty snack, no one really knows where the hot dog came from. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, it is “likely that the North American hot dog comes from a widespread common European sausage brought here by butchers of several nationalities.” The meaty treat’s origin story remains murky, however.

Tap, Tap, Tap

Due to concerns about cracking the iconic instrument, the Liberty Bell has not been rung since 1846. Instead, every year, to mark the Fourth of July, the 2,000-pound bell is tapped 13 times to signal for bells across the country to start ringing.