<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"July 4th is the day we celebrate the United States of America&amp;#039;s founding and this year marks our 238th year as a nation. And while of course there is always lots of celebration in the form of food, fireworks and fun, it&amp;#039;s also important to know some facts about the historical day. Some historians and authors believe that the actual Independence Day may be July 2nd. According to author Kenneth C. Davis, &amp;quot;John Adams wrote home to Abigail on the 3rd that this day, July 2 will go down in history.&amp;quot; The president also described how the day should celebrated, much of what we still do today. He wrote, &amp;quot;The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America, It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.&amp;quot; And despite these words of significance for July 4th, the day didn&amp;#039;t become a federal holiday until 1870, and it wasn&amp;#039;t until 1938 that it became a paid legal holiday. Oddly enough, the 4th is also the anniversary of three presidential deaths, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, and five years later James Munroe died as well. And though it&amp;#039;s our national holiday, celebrations are not limited to our borders, Denmark and Norway celebrate the day because thousands of Danes and Norwegians emigrated to this country back in the early 1900s. Other nations like England, Portugal and Sweden hold festivities on or near American military bases or areas highly populated with American tourists. This day also marks the biggest hot-dog day of the year. Americans eat approximately 20 billion hot dogs a year, 155 million of which are consumed on the 4th. Its celebrations will also generate at least $190 million in beer sales, and ultimately causes over 1,000 injuries from fireworks. Happy 4th of July! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/news/a48805/history-101-on-independence-day/>