There were only 2.5 million people living in
the United States in July 1776.

There’s a one in four chance someone will be holding a hot dog or pork sausage cookout on July 4 in Iowa.

Thomas Jefferson went for a 50-year period in which he got out of bed before the sun rose. He arose as soon as he could read the hands of the clock kept directly opposite his bed.

Within three months of its release in January 1776, there were 120,000 copies of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense distributed in the American colonies. It helped convince many, including George Washington and John Adams, of the need for complete independence from royal rule.

The term “Founding Fathers” was first coined by Sen. Warren G. Harding.

This article appears in July 4 • 2008.

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