Happy 4th of July and Fun Facts!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

So, what you may not know about me is although, I love most holidays in general.. 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. There are many reasons why... one being that I am quite patriotic and although I don't agree with a lot of political choices going on in our country right now (on both sides). I am still very proud to be an American. Mainly, because I am proud of how our country came to be, which leads to my 2nd reason I love 4th of July. I am a huge huge huge history nerd! I love history, so of course I love knowing the history behind out country and my 3rd reason is because every year my grandparents have had a huge Block Party! Which consists of softball,volleyball, games for the kids, potluck and plain good times with people we haven't seen in awhile.. Cause what is also cool about the block party is, people who used to live on the street years and years ago. still come back! Anyways. enough with all this sentimental jumbo. I thought I would honor the 4th with a post of  Not Commonly Known Facts about America and it's History.

1. Robert E. Lee married a woman named Mary Ann Rudolph Custis and they moved into her plantation named Arlington. Which is now called Arlington National Cemetery.  Also Mary Ann, was a relative of George Washington.

2. The Liberty Bell was made in London and came to America in 1752, a month after arriving the bell cracked. However, this is not the crack that we all famously know, since the Bell was recast twice after the original crack. The crack in the bell, that we know today is still a mystery as to how and when it happened.

3. Martin Van Buren was the 1st American born President after we gained our independence. MVB was also our 8th President.


4. The 1st Holiday to be celebrated Nationwide was the 100th Anniversary of George Washington's Inauguration April 30th, 1889.  


5. New York City used to be the Nations Capital. 


6. Grover Cleveland is the only President to hold office twice, non consecutively, making him both our 22nd and 24th President.. Benjamin Harrison was the President in between.


7. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th,1826.


8. We were not called the United States of America until March 1st, 1781. Also July 4th,1776 is the day that they Declaration of Independence was adopted, not signed. It was signed by 54 delegates on August 2nd, 1776. The only person to sign on July 4th was John Hancock.


9. Of the 55 signatures on The Declaration of Independence only 2 of those men would become US Presidents.  John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.


10. George Washington was actually not the first president of America, He was just the 1st President after The Constitution.  In 1781 after the Articles of Confederation were signed we had our 1st (elected by Congress) President John Hanson. Altogether, there would be 7 Presidents before George Washington. The other 6 being Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, Nathan Gorman, Arthur St. Clair, and Cyrus Griffin.