Fourth of July Trivia

Around this time of year, it’s always fun to see just how much everyone knows about one of the most important days in our country’s history.  Here’s a few facts and/or trivia questions to test their knowledge–if you are brave enough, take the questions to the streets Jay Leno style:

1. The fourth of July celebrates our independence from Great Britain, but the 4th is when the declaration was published in the papers–the actual declaration was voted on and approved 2 days earlier.
2. Which two of our forefathers died on the Fourth of July in 1826?  {Thomas Jefferson and John Adams}
3. These days, red, white and blue is used to decorate for 4th of July.  Those colors were not easy to come by after the Revolutionary war, though, so how did our forefather/mothers decorate?  {With greenery}
4. How many signatures are on the Declaration of Independence?  {56}
5. Who was the first person to sign the Declaration?  {John Hancock, which is why to this day, when someone says, “Put your John Hancock right there,” they are referring to signing a document}.
6. How many people lived in the U.S. on July 4th, 1776?  {2.5 million}
7. How much did Americans spend on flags made in China in 2013?  {$3.6 million – CRAZY!}
8. Which countries have used the Declaration of Independence as a “beacon” in their own pursuit of freedom?  {France, Greece, Poland, Russia, and several countries in South America}
9. What year was The Star Spangled Banner written in?  What year was it adopted as our national anthem?  {1814, 1931}
10. Which paper was the first to print the Declaration of Independence?  {The Pennsylvania Evening Post}

Happy Fourth of July!

~Mavis