July 4, 2026: Happy Birthday to US - 1776 + 250 Years

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“A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” McHenry
https://blogs.loc.gov/manuscripts/2...jamin-franklin-and-the-james-mchenry-journal/

The root word of "history" is "story".
Can we separate history from legend, myth?

One popular myth of the U.S. Founding:
"In the past we've said that "on July 4th, 1776, George III, king of England, wrote in his diary, 'Nothing of importance happened today.'"
Turns out we were taken in by an old historic myth.
"King George III never kept a diary," says Arnold Hunt, curator of historical manuscripts at the British Library. "The quote is a variation of another well-known story from the French revolution," he says.


"When I was a boy the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on our land. Where are the lands today? What treaty has the white man ever made with us that they kept? Not one." Chief Sitting Bull


After Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox April 9, 1865 both Confederate and Union troops rode trains to return to their homes. But due to the persistent racism of the day, victorious Negro Union troops were required to ride in the back of the train, while defeated White Confederate troops rode in front.
Escaped slave / abolitionist / journalist / influential lecturer Frederick Douglass responded:
"We Negroes love our country. We fought for it. We ask only that we be treated as well as those that fought against it." Fredric Douglass

A century later: Rosa Parks

The following is a link to a version of United States Founding history embellished by master huckster Paul Harvey.
“We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

Happy Birthday United States
 

Cities brace for holiday weekend teen takeovers putting bystanders at deadly risk, former prosecutor warns​

Greenville Mayor PJ Connelly enacted a juvenile curfew ahead of the Fourth of July weekend​

By Adam Sabes Fox News / Published July 3, 2026 8:00am EDT
Cities across America are bracing for a wave of social media-fueled "teen takeovers" this Fourth of July weekend, with police departments in several states taking preemptive steps to stop the chaos before it starts.
The so-called teen takeovers, some of which have been organized on social media, have erupted across the country and now threaten to interfere with Americans' Fourth of July weekend. As the holiday weekend arrives, police departments across the country are taking steps to stop the chaos before it even starts.
In Falmouth, Massachusetts, police said they have increased staffing and are using drones to combat teen takeovers on beaches and stopping large gatherings before they become dangerous, according to Masslive.com.
 
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Southern Colorado cities drop Fourth of July fireworks displays amid extreme fire threat​

by: Sarah Ferguson / Posted: Jul 2, 2026 / 10:55 AM MDT / Updated: Jul 2, 2026 / 08:38 PM MDT
(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — The cities of Colorado Springs and Pueblo have canceled all permitted Fourth of July fireworks displays this year. The decision comes amid extreme wildfire danger and multiple wildfires burning across Colorado and western parts of the country.

Excellent.
B U T !

The pyrotechnic munitions are explosive. If they are not detonated on schedule following government safety standards, then what?
Will they be stored?
Safely?
 
- ha - But !

"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), U.S. statesman, writer. Comment at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776, in reply to John Hancock's remark that the revolutionaries should be unanimous in their action.

"Let's not forget why we celebrate 4th of July, it is the day Will Smith saved us from the aliens. Independence Day" YT #3
"I just gotta get me one o' dees !" from the pilot seat of alien fighter craft
 
The movie Independence Day trivia.
The scene in which Will Smith drags the unconscious alien across the desert was filmed on the salt flats near Great Salt Lake in Utah. Smith's line, "And what the hell is that *smell*?" was unscripted. Great Salt Lake is home to tiny crustaceans called brine shrimp. When they die, the bodies sink to the bottom of the lake (which isn't very deep) and decompose. When the wind kicks up just right, the bottom mud is disturbed and the smell of millions of decaying brine shrimp can be very, very bad. Apparently, nobody warned Will. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/trivia/?ref_=tt_ov_ql_3
Director Roland Emmerich was notified one day that Robert Loggia was very upset and refusing to leave his trailer. Several days earlier, producer Dean Devlin accidentally suggested to Loggia that he watch Airplane! (1980) for inspiration when he actually intended to suggest Airport (1970). Not familiar with either film, Loggia rented Airplane! and after watching it thought that he had unknowingly been participating in the production of a "spoof" movie.
 
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