Happy 4th of July

Happy 4^th of July! 

To kick off your summer holiday, here are ten facts about the 4^th of July that you may not know.

1. The Fourth of July wasn't officially declared a national holiday until 1941.

2. Not all members of the Continental Congress were in favor of making the Declaration of Independence official, but those that were were die-hard. Apparently one man rode 80 miles to Philadelphia on horseback to break a tie in support of our nation's freedom.

3. Blast! An estimated $211 million has been spent importing fireworks to the U.S. from China.

4. There is a 1 in 4 chance that one of the hot dogs or sausages you consume this weekend originated in Iowa.

5. There were approximately 2.5 million people living in the United States on July 4, 1776. Today,
there's roughly 309.6 million. Just a little bit of an increase, no?

6. The first real July 4th party was held at the White House in 1801.

7. Technically, Independence Day should be August 2, 1776. That's when a majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 50 of the 56 to be exact, put pen to paper.

8. 68.3 million cases of beer are sold on Independence Day around the country.

9. Unfortunately, the Fourth of July ranks as the deadliest holiday of the year.

10. Eleven places in the United States have the word "independence" in their names. The most populous one, with more than 116,000 people) is Independence, Missouri.

You can read more about these facts here.