HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA
The 4th of July is coming up and Men's Health offers us these stats:
4th of July History & Trivia: 1. The word ‘patriotism' comes from the Latin patria, which means ‘homeland' or ‘fatherland.'
2. The first public Fourth of July event at the White House occurred in 1804.
3. Before cars ruled the roadway, the Fourth of July was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by all the noise and by the boys and girls who threw firecrackers at them.
4. The first Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi occurred at Independence Creek and was celebrated by Lewis and Clark in 1805.
5. On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington, D.C., to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter that Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote.
6. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826.
7. The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence did not sign at the same time, nor did they sign on July 4, 1776. The official event occurred on August 2, 1776, when 50 men signed it.
8. The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
9. Thomas McKean was the last to sign in January, 1777.
10. The origin of Uncle Sam probably began in 1812, when Samuel Wilson was a meat packer who provided meat to the US Army. The meat shipments were stamped with the initials, U.S. Someone joked that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam". This joke eventually led to the idea of Uncle Sam symbolizing the United States government.
11. In 1941, Congress declared 4th of July a federal legal holiday. It is one of the few federal holidays that have not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday.
12. There are thirty places nationwide with "liberty" in their name. Liberty, Missouri (26,232) boasts the highest population of the 30 at 26,232. Iowa has more of these places than any other state at four: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.
13. Eleven places have "independence" in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with 113,288 residents.
14. Five places adopted the name "freedom." Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
15. There is one place named "patriot" - Patriot, Indiana, with a population of 202.
16. Mexico is the leading consumer of manufactured American flags.
17. $3.4 million worth of American flags were made in China.
18. The United States imported $193 million of fireworks from China in 2008.
19. There is more than a 25% chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages that are being eaten today came from Iowa.
20. 150 million hot dogs are eaten annually every July 4th in America.
- 93% of men are proud to be American.
- 39% of men admit to having felt ashamed or embarrassed by their country at least once.
- 50% of men will shoot off their own fireworks.
- 48% of men can't sing the national anthem at ball games because they don't know the words.
- The most American food and drink according to the average guy is a hamburger and a soft drink. Runners-up is a hot dog and a cold beer.
- 43% say football rules as America's pastime.
- 25% of men say they don't know what the American motto "E pluribus unum" means, it translation is "out of many, one."
- 75% of men claim they could correctly label all 50 states on a blank map.
- Order in which the average guy ranks the big three: God, family and country.
4th of July History & Trivia: 1. The word ‘patriotism' comes from the Latin patria, which means ‘homeland' or ‘fatherland.'
2. The first public Fourth of July event at the White House occurred in 1804.
3. Before cars ruled the roadway, the Fourth of July was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by all the noise and by the boys and girls who threw firecrackers at them.
4. The first Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi occurred at Independence Creek and was celebrated by Lewis and Clark in 1805.
5. On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington, D.C., to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter that Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote.
6. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826.
7. The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence did not sign at the same time, nor did they sign on July 4, 1776. The official event occurred on August 2, 1776, when 50 men signed it.
8. The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
9. Thomas McKean was the last to sign in January, 1777.
10. The origin of Uncle Sam probably began in 1812, when Samuel Wilson was a meat packer who provided meat to the US Army. The meat shipments were stamped with the initials, U.S. Someone joked that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam". This joke eventually led to the idea of Uncle Sam symbolizing the United States government.
11. In 1941, Congress declared 4th of July a federal legal holiday. It is one of the few federal holidays that have not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday.
12. There are thirty places nationwide with "liberty" in their name. Liberty, Missouri (26,232) boasts the highest population of the 30 at 26,232. Iowa has more of these places than any other state at four: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.
13. Eleven places have "independence" in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with 113,288 residents.
14. Five places adopted the name "freedom." Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
15. There is one place named "patriot" - Patriot, Indiana, with a population of 202.
16. Mexico is the leading consumer of manufactured American flags.
17. $3.4 million worth of American flags were made in China.
18. The United States imported $193 million of fireworks from China in 2008.
19. There is more than a 25% chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages that are being eaten today came from Iowa.
20. 150 million hot dogs are eaten annually every July 4th in America.
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