How much do we like fireworks?
If it's any indication by the $6 million we spend annually to celebrate 4th of July, we like them a lot. After all, it's what our forefathers wanted.
Along with the big bang of lighting the sky, Americans also spend $2 billion on their barbecue festivities to remember the day of our nation’s Independence.
According to Forbes.com, that includes:
- $340 million on beer
- $101 million on soda
- $92 million on chips
- $60 million on dip
- $193 million on hamburgers patties
- $70 million on buns
Most everyone can recite 1776 as the year of America's independence, but many are hazy on the exact historic details of what it took to get there, and few know of the disputable facts surrounding the date of July 4th.
Due to much debate within the colonies regarding benefit of independence from Great Britain, a 5-man committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston, was appointed to rally the justification for the break.
On July 2, after the Continental Congress voted in favor, America became independent. Adams and Jefferson are famous for both believing July 2nd was to be the true birth of our nation.
Even though the Declaration of Independence wasn't signed until July 4, Adams famously wrote to his wife Abigail that this should be a day of "bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other," and that July 2nd would be "celebrated by succeeding generations".
Nonetheless, the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, and the rest is history, according to History.com.
You can learn more about the history of Independence Day on .
Did you know?
- Both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of our Independence.
- It's been reported that Adams would protest festivities for July 4th in protest of the date.
- Philadelphia held the first annual commemoration of the holiday on July 4, 1777.
- George Washington granted a double ration of rum to the fighting troops on July 4, 1778 and 1781.
