Barney & Clyde by Gene Weingarten; Dan Weingarten & David Clark for July 03, 2011

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    Edcole1961  over 13 years ago

    Actually, July second would have been more appropriate. That was the day in 1776 that the Second Contintal Congress actually voted to declare independence. We’re celebrating the anniversary of the ratification of the document, not the act of declaring independence.

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    lewisbower  over 13 years ago

    Daddy always told us to light it then get back quickly. He would have helped but for his three fingers. Have a happy and safe holiday

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    Hillbillyman  over 13 years ago

    Who cares about details?…Have a safe Independence day you all?

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    bdaverin  over 13 years ago

    Nice history lesson!

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    celeconecca  over 13 years ago

    when I was in high school, my class took a trip to Williamsburg, VA. The guide we got was British, and he made a point of telling us about July 4 – several times

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    fritzoid Premium Member over 13 years ago

    I figure the reason we commemorate July 4, 1776 rather than September 3, 1783 is that we were independant (in theory) the moment we declared ourselves so, not at the point the British had no choice but to acknowledge it. If we consider independence something that it was in Englands power to grant us or deny us, it undercuts the philosophical arguments of the document itself. It’s the Declaration of Independence, not the Application for Independence.

    (On the question of whether July 2 rather than July 4 would be more appropriate, I have no opinion other than to point out that a legal document is usually “effective” on the date it’s executed.)

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    nboady  over 13 years ago

    It’s interesting to note that Barney’s trophy wife (Lucretia) was working as a cigarette girl when Barney first met her.

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    RaiseMoreHell  over 13 years ago

    As a kid, I loved fireworks. Now, living in a dry countryside with dogs and horses I think they’re pretty stupid. (My horse, who knows what to expect from guns and is trained for mounted shooting tends to run through fences when things explode over his head without warning.) My celebration every Fourth is to load my various firearms. take them down to the range I have set up at the bottom of the hill, fire them all, and then clean them. If I can interest a young neighbor in participating and getting some safety training and accuracy pointers, so much the better. We sure didn’t achieve our indepedence with fireworks.

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    Stephen Gilberg  over 13 years ago

    Uh, we do celebrate MLK on his birthday (or close to it). That in itself was not so momentous an occasion.

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    doverdan  over 13 years ago

    Sept 3 in 1783 was when the Treaty of Paris was signed. It was April 9, 1784 before the King signed off on it in London. .No fireworks either place..“The rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, , ,” was during the so-called War of 1812.

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    ExRadioGuy  over 13 years ago

    Hate to break it to ya, but, the Pearl Harbor attack was ordered well before the 6th of December, 1941…the attack was planned more than a year in advance and the actual order was given in the middle of November, 1941…the Japanese set out on 26 November and arrived early on 7 December…read Wikipedia entry about it or try watching the 1970 movie “Tora! Tora! Tora!”, which is a semi-documentary account of the attack and what preceded it.

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