10 Plus Things You Didn’t Know About July 4th

11: While the nation celebrates Independence Day with fireworks and cookouts all under the umbrella of our national emblem, the Bald Eagle, Ben Franklin fought to have the turkey be our national symbol.  Franklin saw the Bald Eagle as a scavenger.  Perhaps we should have met him halfway and indulged in turkey on the 4th instead of burgers and dogs.

12:  In 1827 the state of NY abolishes slavery

13:  In 1831, Samuel Frances Smith wrote a poem/song for the July 4th festivities in Boston, Mass.  It was called “My Country, Tis of Thee“.

14:  In 1939, Lou Gehrig took to the stadium infield in NY’s Yankee Stadium and announced that he would be retiring from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS later to be known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  Many remember the famous quote  proclaiming himself “The luckiest man on the face of the earth” but fewer recall that it happened on Independence Day.

15:  Marking another country’s independence, the Philippines, after 381 years of being ruled by other nations receives their independence from the U.S.

16:  In 1802 the United States Military Academy opened in West Point, NY. 

17:  More people die in auto accidents on July 4th than any other single day of the year.

18:  1886 – the French offer the United States the Statue Of Liberty

19:  Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland is published in 1865.  The story was derived from a conversation Alice Lidell held three years earlier on July 4th, 1862 with Lewis Carroll about his cross country expeditions.

20:  Even today something can happen.  Here it is 9:14 am and the discovery of the Higgs boson particle at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.  While we assume that everyone celebrates July 4th, it shows that around the world, it’s just another day.

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