Happy Birthday America!

Tuesday, as you know, is the Fourth of July; the 241st birthday of America. In my opinion, America's birthday is the second best birthday on the calendar, the first being Jesus' birthday. Anyway, I'm going to honor the best country on the face of the planet in my own way, with facts about the Fourth of July. Here's the list:

• On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress adopted the final version of the Declaration of Independence. This is what we, as Americans, celebrate every year. Our fight for independence from Britain didn't end, however, until 1783 with the Treaty of Paris on the third of September.

• "On July 6 [1776], The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to print the extraordinary document." (This quote is from an article: The History of America’s Independence Day on pbs.org)

• The Continental Congress actually voted for independence on July 2 of 1776. John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife: "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America."

• Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, two of the signers from Virginia, were brothers from the historically significant Lee family. Some of the descendants of the Lee family include Robert E. Lee, Zachary Taylor, and Charles Lee (3rd Attorney General of the U.S.).

• Thomas Jefferson authored the first draft of the Declaration, which was edited by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The final version was written by Jefferson with the edits of Adams and Franklin incorporated into the document.

• Three of the first five presidents died on the Fourth of July: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Adams (2nd pres.) and Jefferson (3rd pres.) both died in 1826, while Monroe (5th pres.) died in 1831.

• Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872, the only U.S. president to be born on Independence Day. 

• The story goes that John Hancock signed his name so large that King George could read it without his glasses. This story, however, is untrue. It is believed that Hancock signed the way he did because, as the president of the Continental Congress, he was the first to sign the Declaration. 

I could continue add more facts to this list, but I think that's enough. I will leave you with the link to the Declaration of Independence (if you haven't read this document I suggest that you do) and a quote from Thomas Jefferson about the Fourth of July: 

“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be ... the signal of arousing men to burst the chains ... and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form, which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. ...For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Remember in your prayers and thoughts the many men and women who won our independence two-hundred and forty years ago and those who continue to protect our independence today. God bless America.