Fourth facts, just for fun

Why not start celebrating the nation's 239th birthday today? July 2, 1776, was the date Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, even if they didn't sign it until the fourth.

With more fanfare than Christmas (a more somber and quiet holiday in the 18th century), Americans have celebrated the Fourth in much the same way since 1777. Outdoor picnics were the norm in the 1800s, when historical accounts from the Federal Writers Project described "everyone loading their wagons with food," then heading into town in the morning to celebrate all day long.

Imagine two and a half million people at a national picnic. Now make that 321 million and counting as the U.S. population swells.

More Fourth facts from the U.S. Census and Library of Congress:

The "Committee of Five" who drafted the Declaration were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Livingston was unable to sign it because he was recalled too soon by his state (New York).

The two future presidents who signed, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (also the primary drafter), both died on the document's 50th anniversary of July 4, 1826. In the U.S. there are 12 counties named Adams and 26 named Jefferson; Idaho has both.

Calvin Coolidge was born on the Fourth of July, as was first daughter Malia Obama.

John Hancock, whose name is still synonymous with document signing, was the first to sign the Declaration, probably why his is also the largest signature. Hancock was a merchant. Of the nation's 7.4 million businesses with paid employees, more than one million are retailers.

Fireworks invention dates to 7th century China, rather apropos. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association and U.S. Census data, only 5 percent of fireworks used here are domestically produced; about 75 percent (and 90 percent of "backyard" fireworks) we import from China; and the rest from Europe and Japan.

"Backyard" fireworks have risen 40 percent since 2000; each year averages 20,000 fireworks-caused fires, as well as 9,300 fireworks-related injuries (45 percent in children 13 and younger).

We may not be the only ones shooting them off. July 4 also marks independence for the Philippines (from the U.S.) and Rwanda.

Not exactly a Fourth fact, but Ben Franklin was unhappy about the selection of eagle as national bird. Eagles are "dishonest," he wrote in a letter to his daughter, because they let other birds do the work, then steal the fish. The turkey he considered more fitting, because "though a little vain," turkeys are both native and "courageous."

Americans consume about 155 million hot dogs on the Fourth. No one knows the wiener's origins; meat sausages were written about by ancient Greeks, appearing in Homer's "The Odyssey." Nor do we know with certainty how the name came about; some stories relate the comparison of the sausages to the bodies of dachshunds, as in "dachshund sausages" ergo dog, thus heated to become a "hot dog." That's the loose version.

Want to skip the salt and dubious fillers? How about what John and Mrs. Adams reportedly had to celebrate that first Fourth: Turtle soup and poached salmon.

Not exactly picnic-worthy.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.