by John D. Rockefeller

Independence Day is the birthday of the United States of America. It is celebrated on July 4th each year in the United States. It is the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress - July 4, 1776...anouncing to the world  that the 13 colonies no longer belonged to Great Britain.  Independence Day was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
     On July 4, 1777, the night sky of Philadelphia lit up with the blaze of bonfires below. Candles illuminated the windows of houses and public buildings. Church bells and volleys from ship cannons broke the quiet. The city was celebrating the first anniversary of the founding of the United States. 
     The Fourth of July soon became the main patriotic holiday of the entire country. Veterans of the Revolutionary War made a tradition of gathering on the Fourth to remember their victory. In towns and cities, the American flag flew; shops displayed red, white, and blue decorations; and people marched in parades that were followed by public 
readings of the Declaration of Independence. 
In 1941, Congress declared July 4 a federal legal holiday.