July 4, 2018

Other Events for July 4th

Happy Fourth of July

Congress made Independence Day an official holiday in 1870, but even before it was made official, Americans have marked the day dedicated to the founding of the nation with barbecues, red, white, and blue attire, and fireworks.
Patriotic songs

In 1831, people attending a children’s concert at the Park Street Church in Boston sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” for the first time in public, according to Ben’s Guide. The song served as a de facto national anthem until "The Star Spangled Banner" became the official anthem in 1931.
Patriotic song “America the Beautiful” was published by Katherine Lee Bates on July 4, 1895, in the form of a poem in the weekly newspaper The Congregationalist.

New States
Join the U.S.In 1835, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, the Texas Congress used the anniversary of the country’s founding to vote to accept the United States’ offer of annexation.

In 1959, America unveiled its new 49-star flag honoring Alaska’s statehood.
An updated flag was unfurled a year later on July 4 as well, marking Hawaii’s joining with the United States.

Liberty and Friendship
France presented the Statue of Liberty to the United States on July 4, 1884, in Paris. It was presented by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps to then Minister to France Levi P. Morton as a “souvenir of the unalterable friendship of the two nations.”
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The Luckiest Man
Baseball icon Lou Gehrig became the first Major League Baseball player to have his number retired at Yankee Stadium, where he made his iconic “luckiest man” speech on July 4, 1939. Gehrig died two years later of ALS and he’s credited with bringing national and international attention to the disease.