July 4th Facts: Fireworks, Founding Fathers, and More

Fireworks: Out With the Old, In With the New

• Fireworks may be flourishing, but some July 4th traditions have faded.
• Nineteenth-century July 4ths featured noisy artillery salutes, as explosives left over from various wars were fired all day. The practice faded as cannons aged and fell into disrepair.
• "Back in the early 19th century, they also celebrated with a lot of greenery," American University's Heintze said.
• "That was started by George Washington and his troops. Soldiers wore greens in their caps, and buildings were decorated. But as red-white-and-blue paper [became widely available], and the flag became more important, that fell out of favor."
• Meanwhile, new traditions have arisen—many of which would have surely stumped the Founding Fathers.
• Take Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which will be held for the 94th time on July 4th, 2009. Legend has it that the battle began when a group of recent immigrants wanted to prove their patriotism on the nation's birthday. Today the event is a crown jewel in the world of competitive eating.
• Happy July 2nd?
• "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival," wrote John Adams to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776.
• The second U.S. president had the date wrong, but Heintze maintains that the U.S. really should observe July 2nd—the day Congress voted for independence—as Independence Day. (The signing of the Declaration of Independence didn't begin until August and wasn't complete until November.)
• "They didn't have the written document completed until the 4th," Heintze said.
• "When they took that document to the printer on July 4th, he printed that date on the top. And that was the broadside that was sent out to all of the new states and the generals in the field. It became widely circulated, and July 2nd was forgotten."
• Americans have celebrated July 4th ever since, though it was not declared a federal holiday until 1941. But if the date itself has changed, the rest of Adams's Independence Day vision remains on the mark more than two centuries later. Adopted from news.nationalgeographic.com