Facts you didn't know about the
Fourth of July holiday
By Jessica Hickam
The Fourth of July celebrates the adoption (not the signing) of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress.
On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman and, most famously, Thomas Jefferson to draft a Declaration of Independence.
John Hancock was the first of 56 men to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. He was president of Congress at the time.
Most of the signers of the Declaration signed the document on August 2, 1776.
The Pennsylvania Evening Post was the first newspaper to print the Declaration on July 6, 1776.
The first Independence Day celebrations actually took place on July 8, 1776, in Philadelphia.
The Fourth of July didn’t become a federal holiday until 1970.
Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the United States’ national bird, but John Adams and Thomas Jefferson recommended the bald eagle, which won the title.
We eat burgers and hot dogs on the Fourth of July these days, but John Adams and his wife celebrated with turtle soup.
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