4th of July Facts and Trivia

Facts and Trivia of American Independence Day

• Montgomery is the capital and the birthplace of the Confederate States of America.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., was originally named Michael, like his father. When Jr. was 5, dad changed both their names to Martin.

  

• The first motion picture theater opened in Los Angeles on April 2, 1902.
• American Indians were not US citizens until 1924.
• During the Civil War, more soldiers died of disease than they did from gunshots and fighting.
• Contrary to many people, no star on the flag is specifically representing any one state. In fact, no law exists as to how they are even to be arranged.
• Harry S. Truman was the only president in this century who didn't have a college education.

  

• The Poinsettia plant was named after Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico in the early 1800's. He "discovered" them in Mexico in 1825.
• Not only was Ronald Reagan the oldest person ever elected president at age of 69, he has lived longer than any former president ever has, and has died at the age of 93. We will love you dearly, Mr. President!
• The original bell, now referred to as the Liberty bell, was cast in London and came to this shore in 1752.  It cracked a month later and was recast twice.  The time and place of the current crack is actually unknown.

  

• College Park Maryland has the oldest functioning airport in the USA. The Wright Brothers tested airplanes at this airport!
• John F. Kennedy is the only president to have died before his parents.
• The deepest gorge in the USA and the world is at Hells Canyon, on the Snake River, in Idaho. This gorge is 7,900 feet deep (2,408 meters).
• Lake Michigan is the largest lake entirely in the United States. It is also the only one of the Great Lakes so designated. Half of Lake Superior is in Canada.
• CHRISTMAS became a National Holiday in the U.S. in 1890.

  

• Benjamin Franklin wanted the TURKEY as the national symbol of the United States.
• At Philadelphia, 1960 the first 50-star flag was flown.
• The first rockets in America were deployed by the British against Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.  This attack was witnessed by Francis Scott Key who immortalized them in what is now our national anthem.
• The United States captured Mexico City in 1847.
• Chester Arthur was the  well-dressed president was rumored to own 80 pairs of pants.
• Thomas Jefferson (1826), John Adams (1826) and James Monroe (1831) were the three presidents died on July 4.

  

• President Thomas Jefferson and President John Adams were signers of the Declaration of Independence.
• New York City has 722 miles of subway track.