Fourth fireworks

June 19th, 2009 at 03:26pm Wally Haas

While running an errand today, I heard a radio commercial for a fireworks company that said something like “Founding Father (or was it president?) John Adams thought the Fourth of July would be celebrated with fireworks across the country.”

Not quite.

Adams thought July 2 would be the day celebrated with “shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

Why July 2? Because that was the day Congress voted for independence from Great Britain in 1776. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, but John Hancock was the only person to sign it on that date. The rest of the signatures were obtained by Aug. 2.

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