Today is the 4th of July, a holiday here in the US. It is commonly referred to as Independence Day; this is a misnomer as it commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The writing and signing of this document while an historic event did not bring Independence to the thirteen colonies; this took a long war that finally ended with the signing of a treaty in 1783.
Such historic pedantry aside, this is a big national holiday; most shops and restaurants shut. It is celebrated on the actual date; so we have a holiday this year in the middle of the week. All across the country even more American flags than usual will be on display and tonight there will be firework displays; like 5th November in the UK; but with better weather.
For any American readers of this blog, I shall take the opportunity to repeat something that I have had to mention to a few people at work. The 4th of July is not celebrated in the UK or any where else in the world for that matter, as it is a specifically American holiday. The UK would have a lot more Bank Holidays if we marked each country’s independence from us (There at least 34 countries that have a national holiday celebrating independence from the UK)
A piece of historic 4th July trivia; on the 50th anniversary of the signing, 4th July 1826, the second and third American presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died.
